And Housing for All: The Fight To End Homelessness In America

Foscarinis (founder, the National Homelessness Law Ctr.) details the impact federal policies have had on homelessness in the United States. Beginning in earnest in the Reagan era and continuing into today, systematically empty promises have left policies and programs unfunded, with Republican and Democratic presidents equally culpable. The histories of the McKinney-Vento Act and the Homeless Persons Survival Act demonstrate the gap between the demand for housing and the actual, physical availability of funds and properties. Laws against tent cities and camping in public, coupled with long wait lists for housing vouchers and a lack of available inventory leave this problem unresolved. The book’s legislative history is interwoven with personal stories, allowing the neglect to unfold as a slow burn that readers will want resolution to. Examples from Finland, Austria, Kansas City, and Houston showcase what is and isn’t working to solve homelessness. Each and every example within this analysis supports Foscarinis’s command of the subject, while her compassionate approach will spur change.