About Homelessness in the 1980s

Given the steady growth of social spending that started during the 1930s New Deal era, and beyond, Americans might have been forgiven for believing that homelessness had disappeared as a problem. The 1980s shook up this notion, as the number of "street people" rose exponentially during President Ronald Reagan's fiercely conservative administration, which abandoned its stake in the public housing business. As state and local officials strained to fill the gap, fierce debates raged about every aspect of homeless life -- from dispute about its root causes, to the best remedies for easing the transition from the streets. By the time of Reagan's departure in 1988, advocates for the homeless had begun to mobilize themselves and point the debate in different directions -- one that continues to this day.

History

Reagan's 1980 electoral triumph over his more activist-minded predecessor, Jimmy Carter, marked a decisive shift away from federal intervention -- with a renewed call for greater personal responsibility, and emphasis on private charities filling the gap. The most glaring signal occurred in the treatment of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development's budget -- which stood at $32.2 billion in 1981 and plunged to $7.5 billion by the time Reagan left office. Federal construction of subsidized housing effectively ground to a halt. In many big cities, political pressure intensified to demolish so-called "welfare hotels," which developers often converted into luxury apartments or condominiums -- pricing them out of low-income residents' reach, and leaving them more vulnerable than ever before to homelessness.

Types

As the 1980s progressed, homeless advocates began to identify distinct subgroups of homeless -- such as the first waves of people suffering from AIDS. Poorly understood as the decade began, people with AIDS were more likely to suffer discrimination on the personal, economic and housing front, leading to them ending up on the street. The mentally ill continued to swell the homeless population, primarily because of the closing or emptying of state-run hospitals where they had formerly been housed. Despite a consistent policy of fighting short-term conflicts -- such as Grenada and Panama, for example -- more veterans began showing up at homeless shelters, a situation blamed on an inadequate safety net provided by the Veterans Administration. As a result, accurately gauging the total number of homeless people proved difficult for advocates, who generally agreed on estimates of 1 to 3 million people. Of that number, roughly a third were children who had run away from abusive or impoverished situations.

Features

Overwhelmed by shrinking funds and resources, many communities initially responded by adopting more stringent measures. These ranged from banning panhandling in certain areas, to mass police "sweeps" that pushed the homeless into local jails -- another prominent feature of what critics called the "revolving door" that kept people bouncing on and off the streets without a permanent resolution of their problem. Attempts to impose draconian licensing or registration regulations on panhandling proved less successful -- usually running afoul of court decisions that upheld the practice as protected speech. Curfews also provided another key flash point, as the Tompkins Square Park Police Riot of 1988 showed. Two days of rioting erupted after New York City police arrived to impose new curfew regulations, which critics saw as largely aimed at clearing the homeless out of the park.

Effects

In 1987, mounting political pressure from homeless advocates and government critics led to passage of the McKinney-Vento Act, which remains the only federal law that requires direct funding to aid the homeless. The measure is credited with jump-starting the shelters, soup kitchens and numerous other support services that began taking hold in the 1990s. Additional awareness followed revelations of cronyism and financial mismanagement under Housing and Urban Development Secretary Sam Pierce -- Reagan's sole African-American Cabinet member, and the only one to serve through his entire tenure. Sarcastically dubbed "Silent Sam" for his quietness at Cabinet meetings, Pierce was accused of funneling millions of grant funds to well-connected Democrat and Republican politicians, yet was never charged himself -- despite a scandal that ensnared many of his closest aides and confidantes. Opponents began rallying to put their policy criticisms in print -- with New York's "Street News" becoming the first homeless newspaper, starting in 1989.

Significance

A different attitude appeared to take hold in 1992, when Bill Clinton became the first Democrat to occupy the White House since the Carter years. Even the smallest urban and rural communities had programs or outreach efforts aimed at helping the homeless more directly than before -- although figures remained stubbornly high in many areas. Many advocates argued that simply expanding basic services -- however needed -- wasn't enough, without attempting to resolve the root causes of homelessness, too. Debate flared anew in 1996, when Clinton signed a far-reaching overhaul of the welfare system into law -- whose many preconditions and limits on assistance, critics charged, would boost homeless rates. With new studies showing families and children as the fastest-growing category, and many of the 1980s-era strictures firmly in place, the risk of homelessness appeared greater than ever before to many advocates, and posed new challenges for social service agencies. The debate continues.

Resources

• Causes of the Growth of Homelessness During the 1980s
• Ted Houghton on Homelessness in New York City
• Amid Tributes, Activists Lament Reagan's Failure on Homelessness