PRRAC Grant Reports: Homelessness

Research products of completed projects are available from PRRAC. Bracketed italicized identifiers [e.g. F301] are PRRAC's internal project numbers, used here to match grant descriptions with research products.

Short reports on the research work and updates on the advocacy work this research has supported regularly appear in PRRAC's bimonthly newsletter journal Poverty & Race -- the relevant issues of P&R are noted at the end of each project description. Send PRRAC a self-addressed, stamped envelope for copies of these articles. Greater Boston Legal Services' Homelessness Unit is focussing attention on HUD and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Communities & Development, which administers 1/4 of the state's Section 8 existing housing certificates. The administrative arrangement in Massachusetts (which likely exists in other states as well) structurally disadvantages homeless families (a disproportionate number of whom are minorities), requiring them to wait far longer for subsidies than do non-homeless applicants. The research examined the data sources HUD used to establish allocation sub-areas within the state; the amount of funds available in each allocation area; and the existence of data which could better show relative housing need within the state.
[F204] Grant amount: $4,240.
Contact: Barbara Sard, Greater Boston Legal Services, 197 Friend St., Boston, MA 02114, 617/371-1234, ext. 723.
See article in Poverty & Race, Vol. 4, No. 4.

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty has updated its December 1993 report, "The Right to Remain Nowhere: A Report on Anti-Homelessness Laws and Litigation in 16 US Cities," in support of its litigation, legislative, public education and executive branch advocacy work.
[F307] Grant amount: $5,370.
Contact: Maria Foscarinis, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, 918 F St. NW, #412, Washington, DC 20004, 202/638-2535.
See articles in Poverty & Race, Vol. 4, No. 2; Vol. 6, No. 1; Vol. 7, No. 4.

The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, using interns, interviewed and prepared declarations for 30 homeless men in support of a motion for injunctive relief to prevent the Washington, DC government from closing some of its homeless shelters.
[EM101] Grant amount: $350.
Contact: Patricia Mullahy Fugere, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, 1800 Massachusetts Ave. NW, 6th floor, Washington, DC 20036, 202/872-1494.

The Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago researched the procedures and practices of the Chicago Board of Education, regarding the schooling of homeless children, in order to document violations of federal McKinney Act standards, which require that homeless children be given an adequate education. School officials, parents and children were interviewed in order to describe the system and document its defects. A class action lawsuit (Salazar v. Edwards), based on this research, was brought against the city Board of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education, which was settled very favorably in November 1996. Remedial state legislation was also enacted.
[F104] Grant amount: $10,000.
Contact: Laurene Heybach, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, 1325 S. Wabash, Chicago, IL 60605, 312/435-4548.
See articles in Poverty & Race, Vol. 4, No. 3; Vol. 6, No. 1; Vol. 8, No. 1.

Anne Shlay undertook the second of a planned annual statewide survey of shelter use, users and needs, which supports Action for the Homeless in its advocacy for relief via state legislation. Progressive tax reform and creation of a housing trust fund are the two specific advocacy goals.
[F120] Grant amount: $10,000.
Contact: Norma Pinette, Action for the Homeless, 1021 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202, 410/659-0300.
See article in Poverty & Race, Vol. 1, No. 4.

+ The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, aided by the Boston Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, employed paired tester procedures to determine whether homeless minority families are subjected to discriminatory procedures by local housing authorities in their allocation of Section 8 housing certificates. Administrative advocacy, legislative changes and possible litigation followed.
[F223] Grant amount: $10,000.
Contact: Sue Marsh, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, 288 A St., 4th flr., Boston, MA 02210, 617/737-3508.
See articles in Poverty & Race, Vol. 3, No. 2; Vol. 7, No. 4.

PRRAC Grantee Products and Final Reports

Copies of the following materials, as well as further information on the project, may be obtained by contacting the organization listed. Where available, prices and page length are indicated. Items available from PRRAC, if they are lengthy, may require paying photocopying costs. Project numbers are given to enable cross-reference back to the project descriptions.

Testing For Racial Discrimination at the Local Housing Authorities (March 1994, 14 pp.), published by and available from the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, 288 A St., 4th flr., Boston, MA 02210, 617/737-3508. Contact Sue Marsh for a free copy. [F223]

No Homeless People Allowed: A Report on Anti-Homeless Laws, Litigation and Alternatives in 49 United States Cities (December 1994, 120 pp. + App.), available from the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, 918 F St. NW, #412, Washington, DC 20004, 202/638-2535. $25, $18 for small nonprofits. [F307]

A Long Way From Home: Chicago's Homeless Children and the Schools, by Bernardine Dohrn (February 1992, 71 pp.), available from the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, 343 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL 60604, 312/341-1070. [F104]
Dealing with Desperation: A Census of Maryland's Sheltered Homeless, by Anne Shlay (July 1992, 85 pp.), available from Action for the Homeless, 1021 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202, 410/659-0300. $4, Executive Summary $2. [F120]

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