Determinants of Benefit-Program Participation Among the Urban Homeless

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Abstract
Data are presented on the entitlement status of nearly 30,000 homeless persons who have received care through the national Health Care for the Homeless program in 16 project cities. Overall, about half of all clients are enrolled in at least one benefit program; program participation is slightly higher among homeless women than among homeless men and increases sharply with age. City-to-city variation in theproportion ofparticipat ing clients is found to be determined primarily by state-level differences in the leniency of eligibility criteria; in contrast, the effects of direct project efforts are modest. The "entitle ment problem "faced by the urban homeless is not that they fail to participate in programs for which they are otherwise eligible, but rather that in many states they are not eligible to participate in many programs, regardless of their rather obvious needs.

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