UCSF Benioff Homelessness & Housing Initiative’s Post

California Democrats Propose Sweeping Measures to Tackle Homelessness Crisis via Ivy Larrarte Alarcón In a bid to address the persistent homelessness crisis plaguing #California, Democratic lawmakers have unveiled ambitious proposals aimed at providing comprehensive support to individuals living on the streets. Against the backdrop of escalating #housing insecurity and economic disparities, these initiatives mark a significant shift in the state’s approach to combating homelessness. The proposals, outlined by California #Democrats in a recent press conference, encompass a range of measures intended to provide immediate relief and long-term solutions for the homeless population. Among the key highlights is a substantial increase in funding for affordable housing projects and rental assistance programs. Lawmakers have pledged to allocate significant resources to expedite the construction of affordable housing units and bolster support services for #homeless individuals seeking shelter. https://lnkd.in/eVVpZRmZ

The struggle for affordable housing is not just an issue; it's a crisis that is leaving many vulnerable individuals and families without a place to call home. The consequences of inadequate affordable housing extend beyond individual hardship. Communities suffer as houselessness increases, leading to greater public health challenges, strain on local services, and economic instability. When people lack stable housing, their ability to secure employment, maintain health, and engage in their communities diminishes significantly. To address this crisis, we must prioritize affordable housing as a fundamental right. Investing in the development of affordable housing units will not only help reduce the number of individuals experiencing houselessness but will also strengthen communities as a whole. By ensuring that everyone has access to safe, stable, and affordable housing, we can break the cycle of houselessness and create a foundation for a healthier society. The need for affordable housing is urgent, and it is imperative that we advocate for policies that prioritize its development. The current response system, while well-intentioned, is clearly not enough. It’s time to shift our focus from merely providing temporary solutions to addressing the root cause of the problem: the lack of affordable housing. Together, we can work towards a future where everyone has a place to call home, and the number of people experiencing houselessness no longer outnumbers the available shelter beds. Let’s push for change, invest in affordable housing, and create lasting solutions for those in need. Read more about the State of Homelessness from the National Alliance to End Homelessness here: https://lnkd.in/gbnKRtv8 #HousingIsAHumanRight #AffordableHousing #Advocacy #Houselessness #EndHomelessness

On any given day, at least 35,000 people in NSW are homeless. But homelessness is solvable. And listening to and following the guidance of people with lived experiences of homelessness is critical to finding long-term solutions. StreetCare, the lived experience advisory group we support, is regularly sought out by government, housing providers and frontline agencies for that guidance. Over the past year, StreetCare has protected the rights of people who are homeless or needing housing support and made practical improvements in their lives, including by: - advising the ABS on how to better include people experiencing homelessness in the Census, - working with Homes NSW to highlight barriers to using specialist homelessness services and provide examples of good practice, - participating in the National Housing and Homelessness Plan Roundtable and consultation for the NSW Homelessness Strategy, - advising NSW Telco so people experiencing homelessness have better access to technology, and - informing the Commonwealth inquiry into the COVID-19 response. This Homelessness Week, we celebrate the success of StreetCare and urge decision-makers to remember that the best results are achieved when law and policy is created with people affected, rather than for them. Big thanks to all StreetCare members for their tenacious and courageous advocacy and for leading the way on addressing homelessness. Photo: StreetCare members prepare to tour the Macquarie St East precinct in the CBD to advise on redevelopment that protects the rights of rough sleepers.

🚨💡 Arizona's Homelessness Crisis: A $1B Annual Effort with Questionable Results 💡🚨 Arizona is in the spotlight, dedicating an astounding $1 billion yearly to combat homelessness, a figure highlighted by a recent report from the Common Sense Institute Arizona. Despite these efforts, the state's homeless population has surged by nearly 30% in the last three years. 📈 What's even more alarming? The significant funds mainly go towards housing, yet the number of shelter beds has decreased by 20% since 2007. This raises a critical question: Is this approach working, or is there a better way to address this growing crisis? 🏠💔 Advocates and bipartisan lawmakers are stepping up, proposing innovative solutions like legalizing casitas and facilitating the construction of smaller, affordable homes. These steps could potentially offer a more sustainable path to reducing homelessness. 🏘️✨ However, with the homeless population facing increasing death rates, particularly from drug-related issues, the urgency for a more effective strategy is undeniable. The question remains: How can Arizona better allocate its resources to not just provide housing but also address the root causes of homelessness, including healthcare and substance abuse support? 🤔💬 Let's talk about it. Is throwing money at the problem enough, or do we need to rethink our strategy to make a real difference? #ArizonaHomelessness #HousingCrisis #SocialChange https://lnkd.in/gW9hX5MB

Check out UCSF Benioff Homelessness & Housing Initiative’s latest report on the growing crisis of senior #homelessness in California. At Enterprise Community Partners we are proud to support our developer partners to address this growing need while advocating for the funding to expand access to housing at scale. From Margot Kushel MD at Benioff: “We are failing our older adults by allowing them to spend their last years on our streets and in our shelters... Now is the time for investments in real solutions to prevent and end homelessness among this vulnerable population.” ⬇️Executive summary below. Shocking statistics (though they shouldn’t be) and policy recommendations. #1 recommendation? More public subsidy for affordable housing for extremely low income seniors. https://lnkd.in/gu8CFHma

Homelessness is a complex issue with no single cause. Unfortunately, it can be easier to make assumptions about why or how an individual became homeless than it is to unpack the deep structural inequities and systemic problems that drive homelessness across the country. It’s time to change that.    I am thrilled to share this important commentary from Kaiser Permanente Chief Health Officer Bechara Choucair and Housing California Executive Director Chione Flegal that explores how the narrative shift movement can help build support for long-term solutions by changing perceptions of the root causes of homelessness. Instead of assigning blame to individuals, the narrative shift movement uses storytelling to illustrate how systemic factors, such as poverty and lack of #affordablehousing drive homelessness. At Kaiser Permanente, we believe that shifting the narrative around homelessness is key to developing long-term solutions. That’s why we partnered with Housing California and TheCaseMade to launch the Shift the Narrative Initiative in 2022, which unites partners from across sectors to better understand and address California’s homelessness crisis. We’re proud to continue this effort to bridge this gap in understanding and provide a new perspective on how we can solve this crisis together. Learn more about how the shifting the narrative can build support for long-term solutions to homelessness in Health Affairs Forefront: https://lnkd.in/gJ3NKMgA

With more than a quarter of a million people living unsheltered on any given night, the Supreme Court’s Grants Pass v Johnson decision, released today, will have an outsized impact on homelessness policy going forward. Homelessness is a complex issue largely driven by the growing scarcity of affordable housing, widening wage gaps, and deeply entrenched inequities across mainstream systems. With a shortage of 7.3 million affordable rental units and ballooning housing costs, 17,000 people become homeless for the first time each week, struggling to find a job, maintain basic hygiene, and secure housing. It is imperative that we reduce barriers faced by people experiencing homelessness - people who are effectively houseless - and not add to them. Instead of fighting the unhoused, we must fight the forces that deprive people of housing.   LeSar works closely with communities to implement solutions proven to address unsheltered homelessness, such as those that keep people housed, create permanent housing, and provide low-barrier services. Our staff has seen firsthand that when someone has a roof over their head and is given support to address mental, physical, and social determinants of health, they can heal and thrive. We will continue to work with communities on these solutions especially. #housingfirst #grantspass #housingcrisis #homelessness These proven solutions require long-term sustained investments and the political will that prioritizes them. Shifting the burden to law enforcement will not address the homelessness crisis; it will only further exacerbate the situation. Criminalization is especially pernicious in its impact on people of color, who are disproportionately represented among the homeless population. Black Americans, already bearing the brunt of systemic inequities, will continue to bear the unequal impact of citations, fines, and arrests. Where criminalization has been attempted as a potential solution, it has only led to temporary displacement of those in need to neighboring communities, increased policing and court costs, difficulties in providing the above-mentioned interventions to those who desperately need them, expanded trauma to those already suffering and ultimately increases in homelessness.   Homelessness requires multi-faceted, structural solutions.  We applaud communities that continue to invest in proven solutions and eschew tactics aimed at quick fixes that ultimately are not effective, and we will continue to facilitate cross-sector collaboration to address this challenge. It has been a privilege to support these approaches for the last two decades, and we will continue to do so with renewed commitment.       

Every day, we engage with communities that are seeing many of the trends identified in NAEH’s The State of Homelessness Report for 2024. Homelessness response systems are housing and sheltering more people than in previous years, but often cannot keep up with the number of people entering homelessness due to the lack of affordable rental housing. We appreciate NAEH’s efforts to keep us all informed and celebrate the work communities are doing every day to house, shelter, and serve people facing impossible rents and falling into homelessness. https://lnkd.in/gGGRnxyA

“This case has resulted in an inaccurate and harmful framing of homelessness by suggesting that there are only two potential outcomes: Either arrest those who are unhoused or homelessness will become an inevitable and permanent fixture of the urban landscape. But there is a third path: providing subsidized housing with services to people experiencing homelessness.  Too often, policymakers ignore the obvious solution to homelessness — housing — in favor of immediate (and generally ineffective) responses, such as criminalization. Forced displacements and criminalization move people from one place to another, increasing their trauma and exacerbating the barriers they face to housing, while doing nothing to solve the underlying problem. There are understandable short-term pressures on elected leaders due to the demands of voters who are frustrated with rising levels of homelessness. But without understanding the structural roots of this crisis — a lack of access to housing — homelessness will persist.” Read more from The Hill: https://lnkd.in/d3wTzNak

Are you a housing scholar interested in keeping up with the latest research on homelessness interventions? Or maybe a passionate individual wanting to learn more about potential solutions for the housing crisis in your community? If so, check out Leslie R Lewis, Mirle Rabinowitz Bussell, and Stacey Livingstone's, “An Analysis of Safe Parking Programs: Identifying Program Features and Outcomes of an Emerging Homelessness Intervention.” This research, newly published in Housing Policy Debate, analyzes the impact of safe parking programs, which provide designated parking lots for individuals living in their vehicles to park overnight with access to services and without fear of facing legal action. The case study focuses on the Jewish Family Services Safe Parking Program located in San Diego, a city that enacted a ban on vehicular homelessness in 2019, and where homelessness overall has increased by 14% since 2022. The researchers aim to answer three questions in their research: First, how successful are these programs at helping the diverse population of individuals experiencing homelessness? Second, how do these programs compare to other homeless intervention services? And third, how can these programs improve the services they offer? To read the full (open access!) findings, visit Housing Policy Debate Journal: https://lnkd.in/g7fBT5Y2 To read a (free!) summary of the article, check out our blog post at https://lnkd.in/gB7dr66G