Discusses the basic economic changes and previous conservative policies that have resulted in the increase of homelessness and the decrease in the supply of affordable housing. Argues that the solution to homelessness lies with federally funded, nonprofit housing in various forms. (FMW)

Summarizes two studies concerning successful intervention strategies for disadvantaged youth and homeless children. Implications for camps involve developing partnerships with parents, teachers, and communities; increasing campers' problem-solving skills; providing positive role models; helping campers feel safe; and increasing campers'…

Studied the social networks and daily activities of children and adolescents living or working on the streets of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Found that youngsters who lived at home and worked on the street appeared to be experiencing orderly development despite their impoverished circumstances. Youngsters who lived on the streets, however, showed…

The current status of street children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is characterized by marginalization from society through street vending, begging, theft, and prostitution. Evaluation of a drop-in center serving children without family linkages indicates need for needs assessments, follow-up activities, measurement of individual child progress,…

Service learning adds instructional value to any curriculum area, and it is especially appropriate for education courses. Its benefits include development of critical thinking, deeper processing of course content, and practical related experience. Using action research, this article examines the impact of service learning on preservice teachers'…

Adolescence is a developmental period during which many youth experiment with risk practices. This paper examined the association of parental monitoring with a range of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use behaviors among high-risk youth, while controlling for other demographic and environmental variables previously found to be associated with AOD…

Most often, homeless students are members of minority groups who have attended several schools during their school career, are from single-parent households, and have histories of irregular school attendance. These students also frequently suffer from physical and mental challenges that are rooted in poverty, lack access to medical care, and have…

Of all the varieties of educational disadvantage, issues involving students who are homeless, or who move frequently because of poverty, are perhaps some of the most difficult for public school educators in the US to address. Using a pragmatic mixed methods design, this study evaluates the efficacy of participatory action research (PAR): (1) as a…

This article discusses a teaching and research initiative in which 12 third-year undergraduate students and a lecturer worked as volunteers at a local drop-in centre for homeless men and women, and subsequently conducted 49 life history interviews there. Students were asked to keep a diary, recording field observations and reflections on stories…

This paper reports on a short-term ethnographic participatory action research project that engaged urban Canadian, street-involved "queer and questioning" youth in a multi-media enabled inquiry into peer housing and support needs. The "Pridehouse Project" (http://www.sfu.ca/pridehouse) was initiated by, and accountable to, a…

This article investigates a community-based group therapy intervention designed to address specific needs of women in transition as compared to women also in transition, engaged in a traditional, nonclinical women's program. Both interventions were found to increase social network size, decrease social isolation, and decrease financial stress. The…

The 12 chapters of this volume offer a comprehensive portrait of today's children and their challenging urban environments. The opportunities and obstacles that confront children are examined in detail, and key social problems are discussed in the following contributions: (1) "Growing Up in the Urban Environment: Opportunities and Obstacles for…

This qualitative study examined the ways in which homeless children cope with their environment. Preliminary data were gathered by observing homeless children at a homeless shelter day care center in a medium-sized midwestern city. As many as 12 children, aged 2 to 6 years, were observed in the day care setting on three different weekday mornings.…

Testing of skills in reading, mathematics, and English as a second language (ESL) was conducted at 12 programs for homeless people in California in 1992; 2,111 homeless persons were evaluated. Analysis of the data revealed that approximately 63 percent of the participants were male and 37 percent were female; 35 percent were between 20-29, 39…

This report describes the activities of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation for the 1993 fiscal year. Organized in 1950, the foundation's grant activities focus on five areas: children, disadvantaged youth, homeless families, justice, and tropical disease research. The report provides: (1) a brief history of the foundation and its activities; (2)…