Public shelter admission rates in Philadelphia and New York City: The implications of turnover for sheltered population counts

Abstract

Previous estimates of the size and composition of the U.S. homeless population have been based on cross‐sectional survey methodologies. National enumeration efforts have yielded point‐prevalence estimates ranging from 0.11 to 0.25 percent of the population. This study reports data from shelter databases in Philadelphia and New York City that record identifiers for all persons admitted and so make possible unduplicated counts of users.

Unduplicated counts of shelter users yield annual rates for 1992 of about 1 percent for both cities and rates near 3 percent over three years in Philadelphia (1990–92) and over five years (1988–92) in New York City. The annual rates are three times greater than rates documented by point‐prevalence studies. Shelter bed turnover rates are reported, as are average monthly first admission and readmission counts over a two‐year period. Implications for future research and public policy are discussed.     

A Chinese Medicine Convert

正I have a confession,and it’s one that I’m sure my Chinese colleagues will berate me for:When it came to Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM),I was a bit of a doubter.I didn’t doubt that Chinese medicine could be effective.I just wasn’t sure that in this age of modern medicine,where pharmacies have come to resemble Hogwarts Potions Labs,     

Overland and By Sea: Eight Centuries of the Jewish Presence in China

The several Jewish communities discussed are those in Kaifengand in Shanghai. The presence of the earlier and the later settlersraises several questions. How did the Kaifeng Jews retain theiridentity as Jews for several centuries while becoming part ofChinese society? Whereas the initial group of arrivals in Shanghaiconsisted of traders, the twentieth-century groups were refugees.Why were large numbers of Central European Jews able to landin Shanghai when most countries closed their doors to them?     

Social perceptions on genomics in four Latin American countries. Ethical-legal implications]

The authors analyze under an ethical and legal perspective the consequences and anxieties generated by the human genome project in the population of four Latin American countries: Argentine, Chile, México and Perú, through bibliographical analysis and interviews done to biomedical researches, lawyers and legislators, students and lay civilians.     

The population of coloured textile fibres in domestic washing machines.

A population survey was carried out to analyse examples of the coloured fibre population that may be expected to exist in both front- and top-loading domestic washing machines during Spring, in Sydney, Australia. White cotton T-shirts were washed both individually, and with a normal household wash load, then taped to recover extraneous fibres transferred during the wash cycle. Twelve thousand one hundred and seventy-eight fibres were classified according to length, colour and generic class. Cotton fibres were most prevalent (69.4%), followed by man-made fibres (24.2%). The most common colour/generic class combinations were black/grey cotton (27%), blue cotton (20%) and red cotton (15.6%). Other combinations generally represented under 2% of the total fibre population. Two thirds (65.9%) of the recovered fibres were under 2 mm in length, the proportion of fibres decreasing with increasing fibre length. Variations in machine type did not affect the distribution of fibres with respect to fibre type, colour or length.     

LEGAL CONSUMERS AS COPRODUCERS

Although the extent of unbundling among private legal practitioners in the changing Australian marketplace remains uncertain, there is a shift in thinking about the appropriate role of consumers in accessing everyday legal services. This is evident in the delivery of legal services other than those provided by private practitioners, where the consumer's role in legal service delivery arrangements is gradually being transformed. Among those institutions that are responding positively, if not inevitably, to the rising tide of legal self-helpers is the Family Court of Australia. The court's activities in attempting to meet the needs of its pro se consumers is simultaneously creating opportunities for unbundled legal service delivery, at least for those lawyers willing to seize these opportunities. It would appear that family law disputes, together with the large numbers of voluntary and involuntary legal self-helpers that these disputes generate, is fertile terrain for the development of alternative forms of legal service delivery.