There has been no such study to date to investigate the residential origin of the varying categories of homeless. This study investigates the spatial distribution of residential origins of the varying categories of homeless and the factors that contribute to the vulnerability of individuals to become homeless. The study categorizes homeless people based on gender, family status, the occurrence of alcohol, drug and mental health (ADM) problem, chronicity and veteran status. Data for this study was obtained through the 2005 point-in-time homelessness survey in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
The use of hot spot analyses reveal the differences in the spatial distribution of the prior addresses of varying categories of the homeless including by gender, family status, the occurrence of ADM problem and chronicity. The spatial distribution statistics indicate that the differences are statistically significant. This study suggests that the various factors associated with the causes of varying categories of the homeless did correspond to the spatial distribution of residential origins of the homeless. The spatial distribution of the prior addresses can be a new characteristic that distinguishes between one type of the homeless and other type of the homeless.
This study also shows similar pattern of the spatial distribution of prior addresses of homeless women to those of homeless women-dominated categories including homeless family, homeless without ADM problem and non-chronic homeless. The prior addresses of these homeless categories are less tied to neighborhoods of high poverty than those of homeless men and homeless men-dominated categories including homeless individuals, homeless with ADM problem and chronic homeless. This finding suggest the possibility that domestic violence as well as other gender-based variables that are not confined strictly to neighborhoods of high poverty are variables that explains the differential distribution of prior addresses of homeless women and homeless women-dominated categories from homeless men and homeless men-dominated categories. This study also reveals that areas that characterized by deprivation and high rate of unemployment, proportion of Blacks and female-headed households with young children are strongly and positively significant in producing more homeless of varying categories.
