URBAN HOMELESS PEOPLE AND WELFARE - WHO RECEIVES BENEFITS

Used logistic regression analysis in Study 1 to identify what characteristics distinguished homeless individuals who received welfare benefits from those individuals who did not. Among women, having a dependent child, having been in the human service system as a child, having no prior psychiatric hospitalization, and having contacted many agencies were positively related to receiving welfare benefits Having contacted multiple agencies was the only variable significantly related to receiving welfare benefits among homeless men. Study 2 examined the welfare records of 100 of our respondents and found that 44% of the sample experienced no interruption in their welfare benefits; the level of benefits was just not sufficient to prevent homelessness. However, one third of the sample did lose their benefits; most people lost benefits because they failed to be recertified, not because they were found ineligible.