One chapter highlights the problems researchers will face in collecting data on homelessness, noting that these problems tend to produce undercounts. In another chapter, an analysis of the socioeconomic and demographic correlates of homelessness is based on interviews with a national sample of 1,704 homeless persons using soup kitchens and shelters in cities. Using this same set of interview data, another study examines the nutritional intake of the homeless population, concluding that this is a significant problem. Other chapters address drug abuse among the homeless, homelessness as a long-term housing problem, a social-psychiatric perspective on homelessness, and sources of income for persons on a Southern skid row. Also considered are homeless children and their caretakers; programs for the homeless in the United States, Canada, and Britain; and public policies for reducing homelessness in America. Overall, the book suggests that solutions to the problem of homelessness rest in forging links between government and private agencies to create a systemwide responsiveness to the multiple needs of the homeless: housing, employment and income, family problems, education, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, and health care. 88-item bibliography, subject index.