Homeless families in St. Louis: A report from the field
In May, June, and September of 1998, 169 residents of the largest homeless shelter in Missouri were surveyed in response to the Institute for Children and Poverty's February 1998 request to continue research on homeless families in other areas of the country. Our findings corroborate the New York City data of the Institute for Children and Poverty (ICP), with these notable differences: ” For the women in our study, the experience of childhood violence and abuse was significantly higher than that reported in the ICP study. ” The number of children in homeless single-parent families in which the parent is beyond childbearing years was higher than the ICP-reported average (2.7 children). ” Older respondents were more likely to have graduated from high school than younger respondents. ” Compared to the ICP´ is respondents, fewer of our survey's respondents had previously lived on their own and more had stayed with family and friends. ” Significantly more residents in our study had no medical insurance. In addition, ” We gathered information on how many non-high school graduates had earned their GED and how many had attended or graduated from college. ” Our respondents were asked in what career fields they wanted to work. ” We gathered data on nicotine, alcohol, and drug abuse among our residents. ” We asked respondents if their children had the same father. Based on this survey, we concluded that programs for homeless children aimed at keeping them in school, improving their education, and helping them to form and realize career goals—as well as services such as counseling and mentoring—are necessary to keep homeless children from becoming homeless adults.
Alcohol and drug use, abuse, and dependence among welfare recipients.
OBJECTIVES
This paper presents national estimates of heavy drinking, drug use, and alcohol and drug abuse and/or dependence among recipients of selected welfare programs.


METHODS
Data from the 1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey were analyzed.


RESULTS
The percentages of welfare recipients using, abusing, or dependent on alcohol or drugs were relatively small and consistent with the general US population and those not receiving welfare benefits.


CONCLUSIONS
Although a minority of welfare recipients have alcohol or drug problems, substance abuse prevention and treatment services are needed among high-risk subgroups.
Work search and travel among white and black youth.
Abstract In this paper we investigate the relationships between job search, commutes to work, and metropolitan decentralization of employment among young whites and blacks. We investigate the effects of travel costs (based partly on access to auto travel) and metropolitan decentralization on distances traveled while searching and working, unemployment durations, and wages. High travel costs and reduced travel distances appear to raise unemployment durations and lower wages for blacks by modest amounts. Furthermore, blacks and inner-city residents do not offset greater metropolitan decentralization with greater distances traveled. Both results are consistent with persistent spatial mismatch.