Researchers Call for Community-Based, Housing-First Approach to Homelessness

Researchers participating in a webinar last week hosted by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison cited evidence for the effectiveness of community-based, housing-focused solutions for the rising problem of homelessness.

Moderator Judith Siers-Poisson, communication director at IRP, framed the conversation by noting that the 2024 rate of U.S. homelessness increased by 18% over the previous year, with a 39% rise in families experiencing homelessness. According to an annual survey conducted in communities across the country, more than 770,000 people were living in shelters or outside.

Said David Phillips, research professor of Economics at the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities at the University of Notre Dame: “We’re at a moment in time where homelessness in the United States has been increasing rapidly.”

Cindy I-Fen Cheng, Robinson Edwards professor of American History and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, traced the often counterproductive history of anti-homelessness policies, particularly the post-World War II focus on urban renewal in major cities, or what was often called “slum clearance.”

These policies not only did little to create long-term affordable housing for low-income residents, but also destroyed active communities that supplied crucial support systems. “The people who were against it saw Skid Row as a community for extremely poor people that was essential to their livelihood,” said Cheng. “They attributed agency to the extremely poor, that this was the community they built.”

Katherine Levine Einstein, associate professor of Political Science at Boston University, said that while housing-focused solutions have long demonstrated strong results, cities have been too slow to create multi-discipline strategies around homelessness, despite being the main driver of housing policy.

“We know that a key driver of homelessness in cities is the rising cost of housing. In cities where housing prices are more expensive, we see on average more homelessness,” Einstein said. “We also know that cities control arguably the policy that has the single greatest impact on the housing supply and therefore has the potential to reduce housing costs.”

But Einstein said too many cities are still lagging behind in creating effective policies to counter homelessness. She said only 54% of the largest U.S. cities have homeless plans, and many city officials remain stuck behind the public’s calls for quick, punitive action, a lack of support from the state and federal government and continued skepticism about the impact of a housing-first policy.

She said a poll of mayors she and her colleagues have done found that only 40% cited housing as the major cause of homelessness and more saw mental health, substance abuse and disorderly behavior as the key drivers.

“And I think seeing homelessness not as a housing problem, but as a problem of disorder and addiction has led mayors to tend to favor policy solutions that are oriented more around sort of punitive solutions and reactive solutions,” Einstein said.

Meanwhile, Phillips said evidence clearly shows that a housing-first strategy has shown demonstrable results by providing a long-term housing subsidy as well as support services such as treatment for mental illness or substance use. “There’s a lot of evidence from effectiveness trials that something like permanent supportive housing can make a big difference with people’s experience of homelessness.”