This booklet provides an introduction for people working in organizations concerned with housing and homelessness about basic skills. It provides background on the link between poor basic skills and poor housing and information about ways in which people use basic skills in their daily lives. Two reasons for housing organizations to be involved…

Through an Internet campaign, the Doc4Kids Project gathered stories from pediatric caregivers about children whose health has been compromised by poor housing and whose health has been improved by housing assistance. The medical literature was also reviewed to estimate the total impact of inadequate housing on child health in the United States.…

The bibliography is divided into sections according to the source of the materials. The first category lists resources available for review at Maine's Office of Homeless Education. These resources, which are listed by format, consist of 31 articles and reports; 1 audiocassette; 1 curriculum guide; 4 periodicals; and 3 videos. The focus of most of…

Many aspects of social policy affect the lives of shut out youth in Europe. The purpose of a symposium held at the European Youth Center (Strasbourg, France) was to draw attention to these issues and recommend ways to coordinate the social policies that affect the well-being of youth. The relevance of current policies was assessed in local,…

This document is a how-to guide to help employment and training agencies tailor their delivery systems to be more effective in training, placing, and retaining homeless individuals in gainful employment. The guide is written from the perspective of an employment and training agency and based largely on the experiences of 63 organizations from…

This report on the state of children in the United States begins with a call to action that points out the destructive effects of poverty, violence, and drug use on America's children while outlining 10 needed steps that should be followed to help alleviate these problems. The greater part of the report focuses on: (1) health; (2) child care; (3)…

Introduces background issues regarding the education of homeless children in urban areas, focusing on problems of definition and identification and sociological factors related to homelessness. An overview is provided of the articles of the special issue. The challenges are how to meet the needs of an amorphous and troubled population. (SLD)

Provides a starting place for teachers to learn more about the needs of homeless children, and to incorporate this information into lesson plans. A list of instructional activities and projects gives students, teachers, and parents a compassionate perspective. Includes a list of resources on homelessness and housing around the world. (MJP)

This report discusses the growing shortage of affordable housing in the rural United States. The data, released in February 1989, come from the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The data show that most of the 3.9 million poor households in nonmetropolitan areas pay high percentages of their limited…

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) presents its 1991 report on the state of America's children. An introductory call to action includes seven steps that CDF will take to attain its goals and 10 lessons to guide activists. The rest of the report focuses on: (1) family income and employment; (2) child care; (3) health; (4) education; (5) youth…

Many poor families in rural West Virginia live in unsafe, unsanitary structures that do not protect them from the elements, but these families are not considered officially homeless. Lincoln and Clay Counties are very rural, traditionally poor areas, with 45% of their populations receiving welfare and much larger proportions receiving food stamps.…

For most low-income households, housing has become increasingly unaffordable. High housing cost burdens have serious implications, including the growing problems of homelessness and hunger. Data on national trends and housing conditions suggest that just as the affordable housing problems worsened dramatically for low-income households between the…

This document provides an analysis of the federal government's funding of programs which aid children and families. The foreword begins by describing the crisis which children and families face in the U.S. and proceeds to outline a course of action to help correct the problems. Chapter 1 discusses the federal budget process and the changes in the…

In its introduction, the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) 1995 report on the state of America's children highlights the opposing pulls toward community or chaos in the treatment of children in contemporary American society. The introduction lists 17 things adults and parents can do to conduct a personal audit to determine whether they are…

The introduction to this analysis of the federal budget and investment in children in 1988 argues that American children are not physically, educationally, economically, or spiritually safe. The introduction also describes characteristics of the children; specifies a five-point policy agenda for 1988 that emphasizes preventive measures; and…