Lori McNeil - Street Practice: Changing the Lens on Poverty and Public Assistance

STREET PRACTICE

Solving Social Problems

Series Editor:
Bonnie Berry, Director of the Social Problems Research Group, USA

Solving Social Problems provides a forum for the description and measurement of social problems, with a keen focus on the concrete remedies proposed for their solution. The series takes an international perspective, exploring social problems in various parts of the world, with the central concern being always their possible remedy. As such, work is welcomed on subjects as diverse as environmental damage, terrorism, economic disparities and economic devastation, poverty, inequalities, domestic assaults and sexual abuse, health care, natural disasters, labour inequality, animal abuse, crime, and mental illness and its treatment. In addition to recommending solutions to social problems, the books in this series are theoretically sophisticated, exploring previous discussions of the issues in question, examining other attempts to resolve them, and adopting and discussing methodologies that are commonly used to measure social problems. Proposed solutions may be framed as changes in policy, practice, or more broadly, social change and social movement. Solutions may be reflective of ideology, but are always pragmatic and detailed, explaining the means by which the suggested solutions might be achieved.

Prison Violence
Causes, Consequences and Solutions
Kristine Levan

Borderline Slavery
Mexico, United States, and the Human Trade
Edited by Susan Tiano and Moira Murphy-Aguilar with Brianne Bigej

Teaching Justice
Solving Social Justice Problems through University Education
Kristi Holsinger

Social Problems and Inequality
Social Responsibility through Progressive Sociology
John C. Alessio

Changing the Lens on Poverty and Public Assistance

LORI MCNEIL
Urban Justice Center, New York, USA

First published 2012 by Ashgate Publishing

Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Copyright Lori McNeil 2012

Lori McNeil has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editor of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
McNeil, Lori.
Street practice : changing the lens on poverty and public
assistance. -- (Solving social problems)

1. Poor--Services for--New York (State)--New York.
2. Public welfare--New York (State)--New York.
3. Nonprofit organizations--Political activity--New York
(State)--New York. 4. Social advocacy--New York (State)-
New York. 5. Poverty--Research--New York (State)--New York.
I. Title II. Series
362.57097471-dc23

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McNeil, Lori.
Street practice : changing the lens on poverty and public assistance / by Lori McNeil.

p. cm. -- (Solving social problems)

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-2533-5 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-1-4094-2534-2 (ebook) 1. Poverty--Research-
United States. 2. Hunger--United States--Prevention. 3. Public welfare--United States.
4. Charities--United States. I. Title.
HC110.P6M3376 2013
362.5520973--dc23

2012022237

ISBN 9781409425335 (hbk)
ISBN 9781315611068 (ebk)

Lori McNeil has served as the Director of Research and Policy at Homelessness Outreach and Prevention Project (HOPP) at Urban Justice Center since 2008. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology at Western Michigan University and her B.A. in sociology at Indiana University, South Bend. Prior to joining HOPP, McNeil was an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Long Island University, C.W. Post campus. Her numerous peer reviewed articles, research reports, book chapters, and professional presentations include but are not limited to research on welfare, public housing, and childcare. Though a native of northern Michigan, she now resides in Long Island, New York.

Joel Berg is Executive Director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. He is also author of the book All You Can Eat: How Hungry Is America? Prior to his work with the Coalition, Berg served for eight years in the Clinton Administration in senior executive service positions at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). For two years, he acted as USDA Coordinator of Community Food Security, a new position in which he created and implemented the first-ever federal initiative to better enable faith-based and other nonprofit groups to fight hunger, bolster food security, and help low-income Americans move out of poverty. A graduate of Columbia University, Berg now resides in Brooklyn. He is the past winner of the U.S. Secretary of Agricultures Honor Award for Superior Service and the Congressional Hunger Centers Mickey Leland National Hunger Fighter Award.

Kerry Birnbach lives in Oakland, California. She works as a Nutrition Policy Advocate at California Food Policy Advocates, a statewide policy and advocacy organization, where she develops and implements policies to improve the health and well-being of low-income communities by increasing access to nutritious, affordable food. She previously worked as the Interfaith Voices Against Hunger Coordinator at the New York City Coalition Against Hunger. Originally from Berkeley, California, she earned a B.A. from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and received a Masters degree in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin.

Theresa Hassler is the Director of Communications, Government Relations, and Community Organizing for the New York City Coalition Against Hunger. In this position she is responsible for coordinating all communication with media and news outlets, serves as an advisor on policy issues, and manages all community organizing activities. Before receiving her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Drake University Law School, Theresa worked for a number of years in state government as a lobbyist for public and private interests and as an economic development policy advisor. She also has significant experience managing political campaigns and served as the executive director of a service-based nonprofit organization in St. Louis, Missouri.