Toomey/ Homelessness in Rural Areas: Causes, Patterns, and Trends

Although homelessness in urban areas has been examined extensively, little attention has been given to the problem of homelessness in rural areas. This article reports the findings from a 1990 statewide study of rural homelessness funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. During the six-month data collection period, 919 homeless adults were interviewed; 247 were heading family units, and 480 children were in these families. More than two-thirds of these families were headed by single parents. Implications of the findings for providing short-term emergency assistance and longer-term policy-making are presented. Key Words: emergency assistance; homelessness; policy-making; rural; single parents Efforts to address the problem of homelessnesswith emergency responses during the 1980shave failed to stop the growth of this social condition. Although homelessness is not new to the United States (Hoch, 1987), the number of people without a home has risen dramaticall