The relationship between transience and current life situation in the homeless services-using population

Although transience has been the focus of an enormous amount of public attention, there has been limited empirical research on transience in the homeless population. The purpose of the study discussed in this article was to develop a construct of transience for the homeless services-using population. Transience was defined as consisting of four factors: migration, duration, intention, and involvement. This construct was used to predict current housing and employment status, substance use, receipt of entitlements, and health and mental health services use. The study collected data on 146 individuals. Findings suggest the validity of the study's conceptualization of transience, particularly in its ability to predict current substance use. This study also found indirect evidence for one previously proposed profile of transients--the "transient substance abuser," but this profile may have two categories--used drugs or used alcohol.