An Interview with Marti Burt.
Homelessness remains one of America's most complicated and important social issues.
Chronic poverty, coupled with physical and other disabilities, have combined with rapid changes in society, the workplace, and local housing markets to make many people vulnerable to its effects. The study was sponsored by 12 federal agencies including the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Veterans' Affairs, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Justice, Labor, and Transportation, as well as the Social Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. For a discussion of America's Homeless II, an analysis which provides the most reliable estimates of the size of the homeless population to date, see transcripts from the February 1 First Tuesdays session or the press release . The survey was designed to provide current information about homeless assistance programs and the characteristics of the people who use them. It was also able for the first time to cover the nation as a whole with a sample big enough to provide a reliable picture of homeless and other clients of assistance programs in the three geographical categories of central cities, suburban and urban fringe areas, and rural areas.