Addressing one of the most pressing and publicized social issues of our times, Joel Blau focuses on the institutional response of major American cities to the problem of homelessness. Blau first examines the national causes of homelessness, and then turns to the experience of New York - the city with the gravest crisis and the most ambitious response to date - to illustrate the impediments to long-term solutions nationwide.
Taking a look at the causes of homelessness in the United States, Joel Blau disproves the convenient myths that most homeless are crazy, drug addicts, or lazy misfits who brought their suffering upon themselves. He shows that the current crisis was a result of economic and political changes in recent decades.
