Through compelling ethnography, Homelessness and Housing Advocacy: The
Role of Red-Tape Warriors reveals the creative and ambitious methods
that social service providers use to house their clients despite the
conflictual conditions posed by the policies and institutions that
govern the housing process.
Combining in-depth interviews, extensive fieldwork, and the author's own
professional experience, this book considers the perspective of social
service providers who work with people experiencing homelessness and
chronicles the steps they take to navigate the housing process. With
assertive methods of worker-client advocacy at the center of its focus,
this book beckons attention to the many variables that affect
professional attempts to house homeless populations. It conveys the
challenges that social service providers encounter while fitting their
clients into the criteria for housing eligibility, the opposition they
receive, and the innovative approaches they ultimately take to optimize
housing placements for their clients who are, or were formerly,
experiencing homelessness.
Weaving as it does between issues of poverty, social inequality, and
social policy, Homelessness and Housing Advocacy will appeal to
courses in social work, sociology, and public policy and fill a void for
early-career professionals in housing and community services.
