that "few would dispute the claim that, in the course of the last few years, homelessness in the United States has quietly taken on crisis proportions."

By all accounts, the homeless population is extremely heterogeneous, but certain patterns are becoming increasingly pronounced. There are higher proportions of relatively young, non-white individuals: overall, an estimated 44 percent of the homeless are from minority groups, and the average age is thirty-four. Another striking trend is the increase in homeless families, particularly those headed by females. Three reports on the homeless—by the U.S. General Accounting Office, the House Committee on Government Operations, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors—estimate that 21 percent to 27 percent of the homeless are family members and 13 percent are single women. All reports indicate that the "visible" homeless are only the tip of the iceberg. According to estimates by the Emergency Alliance for Homeless Families and Children, there are 150,000 family members at risk of homelessness in New York City alone because of overcrowding or substandard housing.

Studies of homelessness note that it has a wide variety of causes, including unemployment, reduced public assistance, deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, increased costs of living in many metropolitan areas, and the decline in affordable housing and loss of low-income units. Whether the loss is in temporary single-room-occupancy (sro) hotels or in more permanent units, the link between the shortage of low-income housing and homelessness is undeniable.

The problems homeless people encounter in obtaining temporary shelter are enormous. Temporary shelters for the homeless are unevenly distributed nationwide, and many are overcrowded or unhealthy. Gaining access to shelters is particularly problematic for women, especially if they have children. The irony is that when a place in a shelter is obtained, there are few opportunities to move out of it into more permanent housing.

One of the most important federal programs addressing homelessness is Emergency Assistance for Families (eaf), created in 1967 under Title I of the Social Security Act as an optional complement to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (afdc) program. Other federal initiatives have been sponsored on behalf of the homeless, but the federal role remains small.

States have assisted the homeless primarily by channeling federal funds to local governments through block grant programs. Until 1983 specific state support for the homeless was extremely limited; since then, numerous states have approved operating and capital grants for shelter and housing as well as funds for increased services for the homeless.