tion declined by 6.1 percent (p. 243).
(2) The dearth of cheap apartments and SROs was only, however, a part of the problem. Structural changes in the economy resulted in reduced demand for unskilled workers. Between 1960 and 1984, because of the introduction of anti-psychotic and psychotropic drugs, the population of mental institutions declined from 544,000 to 134,000 (Answers, 1990, p. 46). Sowell (1994) comments on "the tragedy and disgrace of dumping thousands of hopelessly confused people on the streets of American cities" (p. 77). Most estimates were that one-third of the homeless were mentally ill. The original plan was to treat them in community mental health centers, but the way-station mental clinics which were actually funded were inadequate.
Other important factors included a rise of alcoholism and drug addiction, the latter the result largely of the crack cocaine epidemic. The Futurist estimated in 1994 that 85 per cent of the homeless were mentally ill or substance-addicted ("Long-term", 1994, p. 56). Other
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