In Houston, Housing Affordability Helps Reduce Homelessness

Vanessa Brown Calder and Jordan GygiRecent Cato research finds that “Housing First” policies have been unable to reduce or mitigate a rise in the chronically homeless population inUtah andCalifornia. Home prices have risen dramatically in both states, and providing permanent housing to the homeless population has proven increasingly difficult. Given Utah and California ’s disappointing results, Houston, Texas, poses somewhat of a mystery: it appears to have substantially and successfully reduced homeless numbers since adopting the philosophy in 2011.Houston is part of a  Continuum of Care (CoC) known asThe Way Home, a  regional entity that receives federal funds and administers a homelessness response. TheCoalition for the Homeless, a  non‐​profit organization that helps coordinate the efforts of public and private stakeholders, leads the region’s efforts. Houston adopted a Housing First approach to homelessnessin 2011 with a  successful pilot initiative focused on housing homeless veterans. It subsequently expanded the program to focus on the broader chronically homeless population.In 2020, regional partners invested additional money to fund Housing First projects with the Community ‐​wide COVID-19 Housing Program (CCHP).Phase One included a  2‑year, $65 million budget with the objective of housing 5,000 individuals.[i]Phase Two, announced in January of 2022, put $100 million towards the goal of housing 7,000 more individuals.[ii]In contrast to Cal...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs