Responding to America's Homeless: Public Policy Alternatives

by F. Stevens Redburn, Terry F. Buss

This useful and clearly written book provides a discussionof the major issues involved in dealing with the homeless, summarizes information available from a number of studies, and draws conclusions about current public policy and future policy alternatives. . . . An important addition to any library dealing with contemporary social concerns. Choice

The homeless have become more and more numerous and visible in our society. Responding to America's Homeless presents the most complete, up-to-date scientific evidence concerning the nature, extent, and causes of homelessness. Using an unprecedented survey of 1,000 homeless individuals and families, as well as previous national, local, and scholarly research, the authors draw a vivid portrait of the homeless population and their needs. They challenge the widely held view that most homeless are mentally ill, proposing an original classification of the homeless based on needs for various forms of assistance. On the basis of this empirical research, the authors evaluate current public policies for dealing with the homeless and present alternative plans aimed at returning homeless people to more normal, secure circumstances.

170 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 1986

About the author

Steve Redburn is a distinguished lecturer, budget advisor, and authority on financial management, government performance, and public policy with over 25 years of experience as a senior government official in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Since 2004, Professor Redburn has been a professorial lecturer in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy, where he teaches the capstone course on the federal budget. Dr. Redburn is currently directing fiscal studies for the Center of the Public Service and is an affiliated faculty member of the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs of George Mason University. In that role, he is helping to lead research on reform of the federal government’s budget process, with support of the Hewlett Foundation, and to develop a multi-media on-line collection of resources on the federal budget process, Guardians at the Gate.

In 2010 and 2011, Redburn was project director for the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., where he supervised preparation of the Commission’s December, 2010, report, Getting Back in the Black, recommending comprehensive reform of the U.S. federal government budget process, and edited a series of papers on additional reform options in 2011. From January to August 2007 Dr. Redburn served as Senior Budget Advisor on the USAID Kosovo V project, where he assisted the Ministry of Finance and Economy on a range of issues and advised the budget director and staff. From 2008 to May 2014, he was a scholar and study director for the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. He directed a study of high rates of incarceration in the U.S. in 2013-2014 and co-edited the final report. In 2008 – 2009, he directed a study of the fiscal future of the U.S. for NAS and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), developing and assessing spending, revenue, and process reform options to put the U.S. on a sustainable budget path; the final study report, Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future, was published in November, 2009.

Dr. Redburn is an elected fellow and member of the board of directors (2013 – 2015) of the National Academy of Pubic Administration. As a Senior Executive in the Executive Office of the President (OMB) until his retirement from the federal service in 2006, Steve Redburn advised the President's senior staff on all aspects of budget, policy, legislation, program design and performance, and regulations concerning major Federal agencies and programs.