Abstract
The epidemic of homelessness in the late 1980s prompted dramatic increases in government funding that local jurisdictions deployed in differing ways. No two cities were more divergent in addressing homelessness than New York and Los Angeles. With a strong state-city agreement to fund housing and shelters and a right-to-shelter legal mandate, New York followed an assertive and multifaceted approach. In contrast, Los Angeles took a narrower focus, relying on faith-based organizations and concentrating its homeless population in a circumscribed Skid Row. This chapter critically examines the role of civic values, rights-based advocacy, and charitable institutions in shaping responses to urban homelessness. Implications for social policy and practice are offered that reflect local conditions in US cities.
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Henwood, B.F., Padgett, D.K. (2019). Homelessness in Los Angeles and New York City: A Tale of Two Cities. In: Larkin, H., Aykanian, A., Streeter, C.L. (eds) Homelessness Prevention and Intervention in Social Work. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03727-7_8
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