Erik Lovell, John McMullin, Brent Hutchison, Ke’ala Cabulagan with Dr. Curtis Child, Sociology
INTRODUCTION
Few populations are as affected by economic conditions as the homeless. With the recent recessions and changes in city/state/federal policies, the homeless population has begun to change. The traditional homeless population was associated with high levels of drug use, jail time, older men, and minorities (Sosin et al. 1990, Kuhn and Culhane 1998). However, the population has become younger, more likely to include families, and have differing patterns of substance abuse and jail time (Culhane et al. 2007, Sosin 2003, Caton et al. 2005). The traditional homeless person, defined as chronically homeless, would remain homeless for long periods of time or more than 5 times in a year. Policies at the state and federal level have been implemented to help chronic homeless to overcome the barriers to find homes and leave that poverty level.
However, due to the changes in the homeless demographics, the policies that are effectuated may no longer be applicable to the majority of homeless persons. Our study focuses on homeless persons in the Utah and Salt Lake counties, the most populous regions of the state of Utah. Recent initiatives in Utah, such as “Housing First”, have decreased the levels of chronic homelessness by 70% (Moore and Day 2011). However, Utah has also seen an increase in over 13% of those who are intermittently or periodically homeless (characterized by unemployment troubles that results in homelessness for shorter periods of time over the space of many years). Our project aims to understand this new demographic of homelessness and how they perceive the homeless experience, what programs they deem are most helpful, and how agencies and the general community can better serve this population.
DATA & METHOD
Data for this study comes from 40 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with clients using services for the homeless throughout Salt Lake and Utah Counties in Utah. Participants were recruited through one of the major non-profit programs designed to serve the homeless population in these areas. Utah has a variety of programs to assist the homeless populations throughout these counties. In addition to programs, such as “Housing First,” that are designed to assist homeless in exiting homelessness, there are some food banks, clothing facilities and shelters (though none in Utah County) that are designed to assist their immediate needs. The organization we worked with is designed as one of these types of facilities–offering meals, hygiene products, mental health services, and other classes and services.
Our intention was to sample the “typical” homeless client that is likely to use services in Utah. The sample consisted of a slight majority of men (approximately 57%), but was largely even in the ratio of men to women. Utah largely serves a white population, however, we tried to achieve some ethnic diversity to understand the diversity of experiences among homeless in Utah. The sample was predominately white, followed by a moderate proportion of hispanic clients. Additionally, interviews were conducted with Native American and Polynesian participants. According to homeless demographics in Utah, the vast majority of the homeless are intermittently homeless and are only likely to use services for a short-term. While the chronically homeless in Utah are less in number, they are more likely to use services frequently and for longer periods of time. Most of the participants in our study were intermittently homeless, but the sample was fairly evenly distributed between chronic and intermittently homeless clients. Furthermore, there has been a rise in the number of homeless families in Utah–comprising nearly 45% of the homeless population (Moore & Day, 2011). The respondents in our study were largely diverse in this regard–many were single, many married, and some with children.
Most of the research concerning homelessness and goal formation focuses on very specific populations and is largely quantitative in nature. As such, we not only wanted to focus on a broad context of the homeless population, we wanted to understand it from their point of view and in their own words. We felt that by using qualitative methods we could go more in-depth in our understanding of their experience and needs concerning goal formation. Interviews were semi-structured and lasted approximately 45 minutes. The interview focused on understanding their general experience with homelessness (how they became homeless, barriers to exiting homelessness, services they use, etc.).
RESULTS
Our survey of services used yielded useful data in multiple categories, but the most relevant for the Coalition was the heavy emphasis clients placed on the meals, showers, and laundry services. When asked which services were most important, all clients mentioned at least one of these three services with over half including all three. This is significant because access to these services is limited; the showers are closed at 12:00 PM, there is no breakfast on Saturday or any meals on Sunday, and laundry may only be done once a week. By allowing more use of resources the Coalition already possesses, the organization could significantly improve client services in areas that matter most to them. Tapping into the large pool of BYU student volunteers is one potential way the Coalition could increase service availability at low cost. Other potential low cost/high impact suggestions from clients include storage lockers, a homelessness support group, areas for socialization, and improved access to bus tokens. Clients were overwhelming positive about Coalition staff but common negative perceptions of the Coalition included poor meals, dental care that left the users in pain or unable to eat, and increasing drug use and threatening behavior in other clients.
CONCLUSIONS
Many resources geared to low-income populations (including homeless persons) respond to immediate short-term needs (food, paying for one or two days in a motel, sleeping bags, showers, etc.). However, we noticed few participants were involved in programs that increased their skills (whether general life skills or for entry into the workforce) or focused on any long-term improvement. Mental Health programs were generally the most effective in helping participants leave homelessness although they rarely prepared them for long-term progress.
As the homeless population has become more unstable due to job uncertainty and the economy, long-term skill sets, if taught, could allow quick exits for the homeless population or prevention for low-income persons. The homeless population can no longer be seen as “hopeless”, mentally ill, or unwilling to change. Instead, we must foster long-term progression as well as provide short-term necessities. This requires more community understanding and involvement as most programs in Utah Valley are short-staffed and donations have decreased