The 1988 National Survey of Shelters for the Homeless is one aspect of a larger study of homeless issues being conducted by the U.s. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This part involves a national probability telephone survey of 205 shelter managers and administrators of voucher programs providing shelter for the homeless, selected from all coun ties wi th populations exceeding 25,000 persons. Cities over 250,000 persons were given a separate probability of selection.1 Another component, to be reported on separately, involves the collection of detailed information about the provision of shelter and services for the homeless in American communities, including an initial field study by HUD staff in the Nation's five largest cities and their suburbs.