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Community response to homelessness: Social change and constraint in local intervention
Author(s) -
Dowell David A.,
Farmer Gail
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(199201)20:1<72::aid-jcop2290200109>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , task force , government (linguistics) , politics , public administration , state (computer science) , local government , task (project management) , political science , constraint (computer aided design) , public relations , action (physics) , medicine , nursing , management , economics , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , physics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , computer science , law , engineering
This report describes an action‐research project which contributed to mobilizing a community to respond to homelessness in a large Southern California city. The project involved collaboration among a city‐sponsored Task Force, a grass‐roots coalition, and a university. The project core was a needs assessment which served as a basis for advocacy by the Task Force and a coalition of service providers and citizens. Empirical findings are reported along with political impacts including the ultimate fate of recommendations adopted by city government. An analysis of factors constraining policies relating to homelessness at the level of mid‐size municipalities suggests that advocacy strategies must link local efforts with regional, state, and/or national levels to be effective. This conclusion, if valid and general, has significant implications for the theory and practice of community psychology.