Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Lori Salgado

Abstract

AbstractWhen the U.S. federal government reduces funding to urban sanctuary cities because of those cities’ refusal to cooperate with federal law enforcement agents this affects the services offered by the municipalities to their residents. The purpose of this study was to provide a better understanding of the effects that withdrawal of federal funds from urban sanctuary cities have on people experiencing homelessness. The social exchange theory provided the theoretical foundation for the study, which featured a qualitative exploratory case study design and involved interviews with four shelter administrators in three mid-Atlantic states. The participants described (a) the effects of reduced federal funding on their services and client population and (b) the strategies they used to address their budget shortfall. Bryman’s four stages of coding were applied to the transcribed data to identify themes and to answer the research questions. The emergency shelter administrators were not aware of the proposed Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act. They were focused on their mission of helping people experiencing homelessness to return to independence and self-sufficiency while using donations and fundraising to supplement their shelter budgets. A larger sample size across a wider study boundary could have provided more robust data. Still, the study furthers understanding of how some emergency shelter administrators in sanctuary cities perceived their roles and the operations of their shelters. With this knowledge, policy makers may be able to promote positive social change by formulating more equitable policies and practices for the distribution of federal funds to sustain emergency shelters serving the homeless population.

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