o (1) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate

(2) an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is

S (A) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter

designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including

welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing

S (B) an institution that provides a temporary residence for

individuals intended to be institutionalized; or

S (C) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily

used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

A homeless individual shall be eligible for assistance under

any program provided by this chapter, only if the individual

complies with the income eligibility requirements otherwise

Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a homeless individual shall be

eligible for assistance under the Job Training Partnership Act

For purposes of this chapter, the term ''ho

· Education for Homeless Children and Youth

Children's health Many people call or write the National Coalition for the Homeless to ask about the number of homeless people in the United States. There is no easy answer to this question, and in fact, the question itself is misleading. In most cases, homelessness is a temporary circumstance -- not a permanent condition. A more appropriate measure of the magnitude of homelessness is therefore the number of people who experience homelessness over time, not the number of "homeless people."

The poverty rate for all whites was 11.2 percent, 8.6 percent for non-Hispanic whites, 28.4 percent for blacks, 29.4 percent for Hispanics (who may be of any race), and 14.5 percent for Asians and Pacific Islanders. (None of these race or ethnic groups experienced any significant change in the number of poor or the poverty rate between 1995 and 1996.)

There is another important methodological issue that should be considered. Regardless of the time period over which the study was conducted, many people will not be counted because they are not in places researchers can easily find. This group of people, often referred to as "the unsheltered" or "hidden" homeless, frequently stay in automobiles, camp grounds, or other places that researchers cannot effectively search. For instance, a national study of formerly homeless people found that the most common places people who had been literally homeless stayed were vehicles (59.2%) and makeshift housing, such as tents, boxes, caves, or boxcars (24.6%) (Link et al., 1995). This suggests that homeless counts may miss significant numbers of people who are literally homeless, as well as those living in doubled-up situations.

In 1996, 20.5 percent of children under age 18 were poor, a larger percentage than any other age group. (In 1995, the rate was 20.8 percent.) Children under the age of 18 represent 40 percent of the poverty population, even though they are only 27 percent of the total population.

Cities across the country are responding to this disparity, not by addressing the causes of homelessness, but by passing and enforcing laws punishing homeless people for begging as well as for sleeping and even sitting in public -- even though there are no alternative places for homeless people to sleep or sit. At least 72 cities have pursued efforts to criminalize activities associated with homelessness. For example:

Some common words found in the essay are:
Islanders None, METHODOLOGY Researchers, Coalition Homeless, Income SSI, Census Bureau, Social Security, After-Tax Income, Health Care, McKinney Act, , homeless people, homeless children, health care, homeless children youth, children youth, poverty rate, affordable housing, literally homeless, risk homelessness, education homeless, percent poor, education homeless children, national coalition homeless, people experience homelessness, people literally homeless,
Approximate Word count = 5772
Approximate Pages = 23 (250 words per page double spaced)