Be honest now: Anytime you see some poor slob pushing a junk-filled grocery cart or sleeping on a heat grate, you steer clear, snickering something about "Get a life!" under your breath.

Well, as it turns out, most of these people had a life, only it wasn't a very good one. And the reason they are homeless isn't just because they have nowhere to live. Rather, it's because they're victims of a downward spiral that finally forces them onto the streets. Its doubtful that few of us who are faced with similar circumstances could do any better.

According to a landmark study issued by the Department of Housing Urban Development and funded by a dozen federal agencies, most homeless folk have suffered from a broad range of severe hardships, including physical and sexual abuse, childhood trauma, poor education, disability and disease.

The report, the most comprehensive yet on homelessness in America, tells a riveting story of people who have fallen through the social safety net. It's not that they don't want to be productive. Indeed, nearly half the homeless people surveyed said they worked at least part-time during the past month.

Nevertheless, they can't seem to escape their predicaments without help. And that's the good news, said HUD Sec. Andrew Cuomo after spending a night at a transitional housing facility for homeless families in the Nation's Capital with actor William Baldwin to dramatize the plight of the homeless.

Assistance programs hold the key to a better future for the homeless, not putting them behind bars or moving them to seedier parts of town, Cuomo and Baldwin stressed.

"If we give homeless people a helping hand, they can come back and turn their lives around," said Baldwin, who also is president of the Creative Coalition, a non-profit, non-partisan social and political advocacy organization whose members come from the arts and entertainment business. "We can accomplish a lot more by unlocking their potential than we can by locking them in jail cells or ignoring their needs."

Moreover, the report points out, the cost of assistance is substantially less than the cost of jailing the homeless to get them off the street. For example, the Supportive Housing Network estimates that in New York City in 1998, it cost $40,000 a year to put someone away, compared with just $12,500 to provide affordable housing and a variety of support services.

And have no doubt it: The plight of the homeless is far more than just a housing issue. They also need health care, substance abuse treatment, mental health services, education and job training.

Consider these findings:

• Serious problems since childhood are common among the homeless, with one in four reporting physical or sexual abuse and 27 percent saying they lived under foster care or in a group home or other institution in their youths.
• The homeless are among the nation's poorest individuals with incomes averaging just half the federal poverty level. Four in ten said they went without food one or more days in the previous month because they had no money compared with 3 percent of other poor Americans.
• Health problems are common as well. Nearly half of the 4,200 people surveyed said they had arthritis or cancer, 39 percent reported a mental health issue, 38 percent suffered from alcoholism and 26 percent reported a drug dependency. Not surprisingly, more than half had no medical insurance.

But the report also found that when the homeless receive housing assistance and needed services, three out of four of those living in a family group and three out of five living alone end their homeless status and move on to even better living situations. So there is hope.

"This survey is important because it paints the most detailed picture we've had on America's homeless population," said Cuomo. "It gives us the information we need to improve our programs by tailoring them to the needs of these people."

The agencies which helped fund the study are the Departments of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Justice, Labor and Transportation as well as the Social Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Published: December 13, 1999

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