CHPS GRAND ROUNDS
FALL 2008
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SMS Conference Room
Fifth Floor, Room 532
Mailman School of Public Health
722 West 168th Street
And Haven Avenue
September 18, 2008
Room 532
Assisting Forgotten Fathers: Homeless in Rural America
Joanna Badagliacco
Homeless fathers present with their wives and children have rarely been
studied, especially in rural America. Nationally, most of the
chronically homeless are men, but they are not homeless with their
wives and children. Moreover, research on family homelessness has
focused on women with children. This work is part of an ethnographic
study of 86 homeless families in Kentucky, within which only 16 men
were present. We attempt to understand who are these men who remain
with their families? The men told their life histories, and were
interviewed about their relationships, family background, past and
current violence, substance abuse, survival strategies, employment,
religious involvement, and their hopes for the future. Overall, they
often have devastating personal lives, much experience with substance
abuse and alcoholism, few skills for sustained employment, have
suffered extreme physical abuse in the past, and acknowledge that
violence continues to be present in their lives. Yet it is clear that
these men are exceptional, if only because they are among the very few
who choose to remain with their families, giving and taking support and
succor. Still they face many obstacles that keep them from being the
type of father they wish to be—providing for their children, working,
and helping to break the chain of intergenerational poverty and
violence. This research also attempts to expand theoretical models
originally developed to explain the survival strategies of the rural
homeless mothers with children. Where do homeless fathers fit it? What
are their basic mental and physical health needs? What social policies
are required to assist them?
October 02, 2008
Room 6602
The Impact of the Federal Initiative to End Chronic Homelessness in 10 Years
Philip Mangano
Philip F. Mangano is the Executive Director of the United States
Interagency Council on Homelessness, to which he was appointed in March
2002. Since then, he has engaged every level of government and the
private sector to constellate a national partnership to end
homelessness which now includes 20 federal agencies, 49 states, three
territories, the District of Columbia, and over 320 local communities.
Through the Council's leadership, unprecedented interagency and
community collaborations have taken place. Ensuring that jurisdictional
CEOs extend political will to the issue of homelessness, Mr. Mangano
has focused the partnering of the Council with Governors, Mayors, and
County Executives. The prioritization of the Council on the prevention
of homelessness and rapid re-housing of homeless people has focused
federal policy and encouraged local plans and investments from the
public and private sectors. These partnerships have led to
unprecedented state and local investments across the country.
Mr. Mangano brings to his role more than 25 years of experience in the
issue of homelessness, both in public policy and solution-oriented
programs. In his work in Massachusetts, Mr. Mangano originated the
abolitionist notion of changing the verb and intent of homelessness
from managing the response to ending the disgrace by moving beyond a
status quo that was well intentioned to innovations that are results
oriented.
Mr. Mangano began his work in homelessness in the 1980s, starting as a
full-time volunteer on a Boston breadline, and then working with
African-American churches in responding to homelessness, and eventually
serving as Director of Homeless Services for the City of Cambridge. He
worked with Children's Services of Roxbury, Massachusetts to create
housing programs for homeless families. Prior to his federal
appointment, Mr. Mangano was the founding Executive Director of a
regional advocacy alliance which became the Massachusetts Housing and
Shelter Alliance (MHSA), a statewide coalition of 80 agencies that
operate more than 200 programs. During his 12-year tenure, MHSA
developed statewide strategies to reduce and end homelessness in
Massachusetts which influenced the national dialogue in Washington and
throughout the nation.
The New York Times described 10-Year Plans encouraged by the Council as
a "burst of effort [that] has buoyed a field long accustomed to
futility and part of an accelerating national movement that has reduced
the numbers of the chronically homeless." The San Francisco Chronicle
called the Council's work the "most aggressive nationwide strategy in a
generation to solve homelessness." The Weekly Standard noted
that "somebody has finally found something that works." The Washington
Times dubbed Mr. Mangano "one person working overtime to bulldoze
misconceptions" about homelessness.” The Atlantic Monthly noted
that "this hard numbers approach [is] a radical shift." And Governing
Magazine wrote, "Nobody has done more than Mangano to change the
national dialogue on homelessness."
October 16, 2008
Room 6602
The Launch of the Covenant House International Institute: Strengthening Research and Representation for At-Risk and Homeless Youth
Bruce Henry
This talk will present the Covenant House International Insitute, the
agency's newest initiative that will study issues related to the
homeless and at-risk youth population, provide data critical for policy
and funding decisions, and train emerging social-service leaders.
Covenant House is one of the world's largest privately-funded agencies
serving at-risk and homeless youth and has 18 sites across the United
States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America. The agency provides
crisis, vocational, educational, medical, legal, and other services to
over 65,000 clients a year. The talk will also touch on preliminary
results for a pilot project being done in collaboration with the
Columbia Center for Homelessness Prevention Studies.
October 30, 2008
Room 6602
TBA
James Mandiberg
TBA
November 13, 2008
Understanding Homelessness Among Older Adults in New York City
Marybeth Shinn
Homelessness among older adults remains low relative to its prevalence
in other age groups, but it is increasing. We conducted a mixed-method
study to understand why. We interviewed 79 homeless adults aged 55 and
over about disability; economic, human and social capital; and
stressful life events prior to becoming homeless, and compared them to
61 older adults living in public housing. Just over half of the
homeless group reported leading conventional lives with long periods of
employment and residential stability through middle age, prior to
becoming homeless. Human capital, social capital and life events were
more important than disability or economic capital in predicting
homelessness. The homeless adults were younger, more likely to be male
and better educated than housed adults, but had shorter job tenure and
fewer social ties. Homeless adults faced multiple, cascading risks,
including job loss and housing loss, from which they were unable to
recover.
December 04, 2008
Room 6602
Homelessness, Housing and Addiction: Untangling What We Know and Don't Know So Far
Stefan Kertesz
TBA
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