In a nationwide random digit dial telephone survey of peoples' knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about the homeless/homeless mentally ill, respondents were asked if they had ever been homeless. A surprising 206 (13.7%) reported that they had been homeless at some time in their lives; 169 (11.2%) reported homelessness in adulthood. Moreover, these incidents of self-reported homelessness appear to be valid. Self-reported homelessness correlates as expected with variables like poverty, educational level and a history of mental hospitalization. In addition we conducted a brief reinterview of a subsample of self- reported homeless cases and found that the vast majority were experiencing severe hardship at the time they reported being homeless. We propose to follow-up this unexpected and provocative finding by conducting in-depth interviews with respondents who reported homelessness as adults. We will also reinterview two comparison groups (N=280 each) from the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs study, one consisting of people who have never been homeless but who are at high risk of becoming homeless and another that is at low risk for homelessness. Because there are few studies focused specifically on the formerly homeless this study offers the opportunity to learn a great deal about people's experience with homelessness. Specifically, the study will provide knowledge about the social and mental health characteristics of formerly homeless people, how they became homeless, what their homeless experience was like, how they became rehoused, and what their current housing situation is like. Knowledge gained from the study will help inform broad social policy as well as interventions designed to help homeless people become rehoused.
