Working without laws (The Nation, 9/4/2009) For the past thirty years, the gospel of lean and mean has reordered the world of work, setting off a race to the bottom in which employers circumvent and evade standards that once seemed inviolate. That race has now taken us to a logical low point: many employers are ignoring workplace laws altogether.

Low-wage workers are often cheated, study says (New York Times, 9/1/2009) Low-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than the minimum wage, according to a new study based on a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Is it now a crime to be poor? (New York Times, 8/8/2009) It’s too bad so many people are falling into poverty at a time when it’s almost illegal to be poor. You won’t be arrested for shopping in a Dollar Store, but if you are truly, deeply, in-the-streets poor, you’re well advised not to engage in any of the biological necessities of life — like sitting, sleeping, lying down or loitering.

Running program gets homeless residents on track emotionally, physically (USA Today, 7/22/2009) Back on My Feet uses running as a vehicle to help homeless people become self-sufficient.

Lost jobs forcing more out of homes (USA Today, 6/23/2009) The nation’s foreclosure crisis — once largely confined to only a few corners of the country — is spreading to new areas as the economy teeters. The foreclosure rates in 40 of the nation’s counties that have the most households have already doubled from last year, a USA TODAY analysis of data from the listing firm RealtyTrac shows.

Following the money in the health care debate (New York Times, 6/13/2009) Congress appears ready to confront one of the nation’s most contentious issues —health care reform. The discussion has become particularly heated over how the government will find the savings necessary to help generate the $1 trillion or so that the government will need over the next decade to pay for universal coverage. The nation’s doctors say they wholeheartedly support health care reform. But the American Medical Association has a long history of being opposed to legislation that threatens the status quo. It opposed the creation of Medicare more than 30 years ago.

A housing market bright spot (NPR, 6/13/2009) For months, the news about the country’s housing market has been gloomy. But that’s slowly starting to change. The latest figures show pending home sales are on the rise, and some real estate bright spots are popping up as the prices of homes for sale rebound.

Finding purpose in serving the needy, not just haute cuisine (New York Times, 6/13/2009) In an era in which food politics are increasingly part of the national conversation and organic chefs are lauded in glossy magazines, Tim Hammack and a growing number of talented colleagues are applying their creativity and commitment to serving the lost and needy.

Cities clamp down on panhandlers (USA Today, 6/10/2009) Many cities throughout the country have begun to get tough on people they describe not as homeless but as beggars. They’re passing laws to clear city streets and make residents feel safe as they go about their business. An increasing number of cities are regulating panhandling laws which homeless advocates call callous.

High success rate so far for Housing First approach to homelessness (Wisconsin State Journal, 6/6/2009) Living in a shelter can make it hard to concentrate on such things as employment, budgeting techniques, or seeking treatment for substance abuse or mental illness. Dozens of communities nationwide are involved in a large-scale program that focuses on moving homeless families quickly to permanent housing so they spend little, if any, time in the shelter system.

Study reveals ‘hidden homeless’ in rural America (AP, 6/6/2009) Homelessness often means life in soup lines and on city streets, but as a new study commissioned by the state of Maine shows, it isn’t confined to cities. It also can be found across rural areas, so concealed that some people are surprised it exists at all, the study finds.

Some homeless live in luxury New York condo (NPR, 6/5/2009) New York City is housing some homeless families in Brooklyn luxury condos. The New York Daily News says the condos couldn’t attract buyers in the current housing market. Now they’re filling a need for some of the city’s unprecedented number of homeless families.

Unemployment insurance buckles after years of underfunding (ProPublica, 6/3/2009) Half a million Americans lost their jobs in April, meaning there are now officially 14 million unemployed workers, the highest percentage in 25 years, and the strain on the unemployment system is beginning to show.

Number of homeless veterans plunges at city shelters (New York Times, 6/3/2009) The Bloomberg administration’s program to provide housing for hundreds of homeless veterans should be considered a national model, Robert V. Hess, New York City’s commissioner of homeless services, told the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs in Washington on Wednesday.

Mexico considers ‘ban’ on street children (Christian Science Monitor, 6/1/2009) Children selling gum or washing windshields in the streets of Mexico are as ubiquitous as traffic lights. But under a new proposal municipal would be required to round up kids living or working on the streets and place them in the care of social service agencies.

12% of mortgages delinquent or in foreclosure (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/28/2009) Although the housing slump started with defaults on subprime loans to borrowers with questionable credit, it has been spreading to borrowers with good credit who have lost their jobs and now can’t make house payments.

Lawsuit: St. Pete police, officials targeting homeless (Tampa Tribune, 5/21/2009)St. Petersburg officials and police are using local ordinances to target and harass the homeless, depriving them of their constitutional rights, according to a federal lawsuit.

Boy, 11, on trek to help homeless kids (USA Today, 5/18/2009) Zach Bonner is on a mission to help homeless children. Last week he started a 668-mile hike from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. Along the way, Zach is collecting letters from children that he hopes to give President Obama in July.

Homeless communities on the increase in R.I. (Providence Journal, 5/11/2009) The number of people in shelters has been increasing since mid-2007, largely because of high unemployment, a bad economy and a record number of foreclosures.

Stockton’s tent city? (Stockton Record, 5/9/2009) As talks on how to address homelessness in the city continue, some longtime advocates for the poor are urging that the controversial idea of a sanctioned tent city remain in consideration.

New York charges rent for working homeless (New York Times, 5/8/2009) The Bloomberg administration has quietly begun charging rent to homeless families who live in publicly run shelters but have income from jobs.

Md. 1st to make homeless attacks a hate crime (USA Today, 5/7/2009) Maryland became the first state to cover homeless people in its hate crimes law. Under the law an attack can result in a harsher penalty if evidence shows the attacker acted because the victim was homeless.

Ready or not, Katrina victims lose temporary housing (New York Times, 5/7/2009) Though more than 4,000 Louisiana homeowners have received rebuilding money only in the last six months, or are struggling with inadequate grants or no money at all, FEMA is intent on taking away their trailers by the end of May.

Economic casualties pile into tent cities (USA Today, 5/6/2009) For the economic homeless, the American ideal that education and hard work lead to a comfortable middle-class life has slipped out of reach. They’re packing into motels, parking lots and tent cities, alternately distressed and hopeful.

Street papers thrive as industry falters (New York Times, 5/3/2009) The economic crisis has many conventional newspapers struggling for survival, but weeklies and monthlies sold by homeless people around the globe appear to be weathering the downturn.

Joblessness spurs shift in Japan’s views on poverty (Wall Street Journal, 5/2/2009) Concerned about their own job security, many Japanese are seeing the homeless not as troubled individuals seeking handouts, but as victims of a failing economy and a government system that offered no safety nets.

Giving their time and talent (Washington Post, 4/27/2009) In a city with one of the nation’s highest homeless rates, Anthony Martinez makes house calls on those without houses. Martinez, a retired Navy doctor, searches streets and out-of-the-way places in Washington, D.C., for homeless people in need of medical care.

Cities deal with a surge in shantytowns (New York Times, 3/25/2009) Like a dozen or so other cities across the nation, Fresno is dealing with an unhappy déjà vu: the arrival of modern-day Hoovervilles, illegal encampments of homeless people that are reminiscent, on a far smaller scale, of Depression-era shantytowns.