On any given night, there are over 643,000 homeless people
residing in shelters and on the streets across America. What can we do to help?
"Levy crafts stories of characters who sear the memory: Old
Man Ray, the World War II veteran who resents the VA system and
regards himself as the de facto night watchman at Port Authority;
Ben who claims to be a prophet disowned in his own country, crucified
by the government and enslaved by poverty finds a bridge to
the mainstream services and a path to housing through the common
language of religious metaphors, including redemption and
forgiveness; and Andrew who has been 'mentally murdered' is
helped to understand his own situation and gain disability benefits
through the language of trauma; among others.
These stories are deftly interwoven with theory and practice as Levy constructs
his developmental model of the engagement and pretreatment process. The outreach
worker strives to understand the language and the culture of each homeless individual,
builds a bridge to the mainstream services, and helps those providers to understand
the special circumstances of these vulnerable people. Levy bears witness to the
courage of these pilgrims who wander the streets of our cities, and his poignant book
is a testament to the healing power of trusting and enduring relationships."
--Jim O'Connell, MD - President and Street Physician for
Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
The reader will...
Experience moving real life stories that demystify homeless outreach and its central
objectives and challenges.
Learn about effective strategies of outreach & engagement with under-served
populations.
Understand and be able to utilize the stages of common language construction in
your own practice.
Learn about pretreatment principles and their applications with persons experiencing
untreated major mental illness, addiction, and medical issues.
Discover new interventions via outreach counseling, advocacy and case management
with people experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness.
Understand how to better integrate policy, programs (e.g. Housing First), and supervision
with homeless outreach initiatives.
About the Author
Jay S. Levy, LICSW has spent the last 20 years working with
individuals who experience homelessness. He has developed new
programs and provided clinical staff supervision. Jay is one of
the architects to the Regional Engagement and Assessment for
Chronically Homeless Housing program (REACH). This was
adopted by the Western Massachusetts Regional Network as an
innovative approach toward reducing chronic homelessness.
Learn more at www.JaySLevy.com
From the New Horizons in Therapy Series at Loving Healing Press www.LovingHealing.com
SOC025000 Social Science : Social Work
PSY010000 Psychology : Psychotherapy - Counseling
POL002000 Political Science : Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.
