The Employed Homeless: A Crisis in Public Policy

Authors

Frederick A. Diblasio, University of Maryland, Baltimore
John R. Belcher, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Kathleen A. Connors, Maryland Department of Human Resources

Abstract

Departing from the conventional wisdom of who constitutes the homeless, the "employed homeless" emerge as a subgroup of the homeless population in a state-wide Maryland Study (n= 178) at 25 shelter facilities. Twenty-four percent. of the homeless were found to work fulltime and eleven percent part-time. Gender disability, health, previous mental health hospitalization, military experience and education were significantly associated with employment status in the bivariate analysis. From these exploratory findings a theory of economic dislocation is hypothesized.

Recommended Citation

Diblasio, Frederick A.; Belcher, John R.; and Connors, Kathleen A. (1993) "The Employed Homeless: A Crisis in Public Policy," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 20: Iss. 4, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.2094
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol20/iss4/4