This study addresses Congressional concern that the federal approach to meeting the needs of homeless people may not be effective. It (1) identifies and describes characteristics of the federal programs specifically targeted, or reserved, for the homeless, and the key nontargeted programs available to assist low-income people generally; (2) identifies the amounts and types of funding for these programs in FY 1997; and (3) determines if federal agencies have coordinated their efforts to assist homeless people and developed outcome measures for their targeted programs.