The Civil Rights of Homeless People: Law, Social Policy, and Social Work Practice (Modern Applications of Social Work Series) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0202305147 ISBN 13: 9780202305141

Publisher: Aldine Transaction, 1995

Synopsis

Collaborative initiatives between the human service and legal professions are spreading in social service delivery systems and on university campuses in response to the complexity and interre-latedness of social problems. Stoner's new book, embodying such collaboration in legal advocacy for the homeless, reminds us that the judiciary remains the potent source of social change that it had been in the earlier civil rights movement.In surveying over 1,000 class action lawsuits tried on behalf of homeless people during the past decade, Stoner demonstrates that legal remedies offer direction for advocates in the face of legislative and public resistance, as well as overt hostility. Her book adds substantive insight into the role of the social worker in advocacy by identifying the legal aspects of social work practice. Opposing a climate of pessimism, her discussion of the restoration and preservation of rights to housing, minimum standards of health and welfare, education, family preservation, and voting - along with constitutional protection of personal freedom - offers encouragement to advocates for homeless clients.The Civil Rights of Homeless People identifies the legal issues in all social policy arenas, so that it can serve as a social policy text for teaching policy formulation and implementation. Goal oriented, it includes legal issues and strategies for effective collaboration in support of rights of homeless clients.

About this title

Review

"Recalling the potent role played by the judiciary in the Civil Rights Movement, Stoner shows the many ways in which class action lawsuits have benefited homeless people over the past decade or so. The particular domains within which such lawsuits have been tried and sometimes won include the right to shelter and emergency assistance; the right to welfare benefits (AFDC, food stamps); the welfare of homeless children; access to mental health services; eviction litigation; voting rights; educational discrimination against homeless children; and the criminalization of the homeless (e.g., loitering, begging, sleeping in public, vagrancy). This book serves two extremely useful purposes. First, by reviewing more than 1,000 class action lawsuits brought on behalf of homeless people, Stoner demonstrates again and again the value and viability of an alliance between the legal and social work professions. Thus, the book is recommended for all social work students and law students with an interest in public policy. Second, the thematic organization of the review of lawsuits and the accessible way in which they are discussed (very little legal jargon here) makes this book, in effect, a directory of legal precedents and strategies that will be extremely useful to homeless advocates and their legal allies. Upper-division undergraduates and above."

--K. Hadden, Choice

..".[E]ven though the primary focus is the condition of the homeless, her approach has value to the larger welfare reform debate that has emerged."

--Robert M. Moroney, "Arizona State University"

"Recalling the potent role played by the judiciary in the Civil Rights Movement, Stoner shows the many ways in which class action lawsuits have benefited homeless people over the past decade or so. The particular domains within which such lawsuits have been tried and sometimes won include the right to shelter and emergency assistance; the right to welfare benefits (AFDC, food stamps); the welfare of homeless children; access to mental health services; eviction litigation; voting rights; educational discrimination against homeless children; and the criminalization of the homeless (e.g., loitering, begging, sleeping in public, vagrancy). This book serves two extremely useful purposes. First, by reviewing more than 1,000 class action lawsuits brought on behalf of homeless people, Stoner demonstrates again and again the value and viability of an alliance between the legal and social work professions. Thus, the book is recommended for all social work students and law students with an interest in public policy. Second, the thematic organization of the review of lawsuits and the accessible way in which they are discussed (very little legal jargon here) makes this book, in effect, a directory of legal precedents and strategies that will be extremely useful to homeless advocates and their legal allies. Upper-division undergraduates and above."

--K. Hadden, Choice

..".[E]ven though the primary focus is the condition of the homeless, her approach has value to the larger welfare reform debate that has emerged."

--Robert M. Moroney, Arizona State University

-Recalling the potent role played by the judiciary in the Civil Rights Movement, Stoner shows the many ways in which class action lawsuits have benefited homeless people over the past decade or so. The particular domains within which such lawsuits have been tried and sometimes won include the right to shelter and emergency assistance; the right to welfare benefits (AFDC, food stamps); the welfare of homeless children; access to mental health services; eviction litigation; voting rights; educational discrimination against homeless children; and the criminalization of the homeless (e.g., loitering, begging, sleeping in public, vagrancy). This book serves two extremely useful purposes. First, by reviewing more than 1,000 class action lawsuits brought on behalf of homeless people, Stoner demonstrates again and again the value and viability of an alliance between the legal and social work professions. Thus, the book is recommended for all social work students and law students with an interest in public policy. Second, the thematic organization of the review of lawsuits and the accessible way in which they are discussed (very little legal jargon here) makes this book, in effect, a directory of legal precedents and strategies that will be extremely useful to homeless advocates and their legal allies. Upper-division undergraduates and above.-

--K. Hadden, Choice

-...[E]ven though the primary focus is the condition of the homeless, her approach has value to the larger welfare reform debate that has emerged.-

--Robert M. Moroney, Arizona State University

From the Back Cover

Stoner's new book examines the collaboration between the human services and legal professions, as both deal with the complex and interrelated problems of homeless people. In surveying numerous class action lawsuits tried on behalf of the homeless, the author takes up such client-centered issues as rights to housing, minimum standards of health and welfare, education, family preservation, education, and voting. Her book will assist practitioners in their advocacy on behalf of homeless clients, while serving as a text for courses in social policy formulation and implementation.

Edition details

• Publisher: Aldine Transaction
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0202305147
• ISBN 13: 9780202305141
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 197
• Editor: Stoner Madeleine