Skip to main content

Recently Released: Strategies for Reducing Chronic Street Homelessness

HUD.GOV HUDUser.gov
eList
HUDUSERNEWS
President Bush's FY 2003 Budget made "ending chronic
homelessness in the next decade a top objective." The
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
and many local communities are working together to meet
this goal. Part of this effort involves learning about
successful approaches so that local communities may
construct their own strategies and locate the resources
necessary to end chronic homelessness.

A new study commissioned by HUD's Office of Policy
Development and Research (PD&R) identifies and describes
successful community-wide approaches that reduce
homelessness and achieve stable housing for the
difficult-to-serve people who routinely live on the
streets. "Strategies for Reducing Chronic Street
Homelessness" includes analysis of seven communities that
have made progress in reducing their chronic street
homeless population.

According to the report, homeless persons living on the
street are often single adults who spend significant time
there, although they may also use emergency shelters from
time to time. Persons experiencing chronic homelessness
are generally disabled (severe and persistent mental
illness, severe and persistent alcohol and/or drug abuse
problems, and HIV/AIDS) and either continuously homeless
for a year or more or have had at least four homeless
episodes during the last three years.

In an effort to document successful approaches in a way
that will help other communities address their own
chronic street homelessness, the report investigates
several key issues: long-term plans for
reducing/preventing chronic homelessness; ways in which
communities identify and implement their approach; and
the communities' funding, administration, and
coordination of their strategies.

Additionally, the report addresses efforts that
communities can take to reduce local resistance by
including community members in the planning and
implementation process, as well as the ability of these
communities to document their progress; either by showing
that the numbers of street homeless people have decreased
or by showing that programs are accepting this population
and helping them leave homelessness. Lastly, the study
investigated other ways in which communities use data to
bolster their case for making the investment to end
chronic street homelessness.

The authors identified 11 key elements evident in many of
the approaches of the seven communities they visited.
Five of the elements were deemed to be "essential," as
they were present in the communities that have made the
most progress toward reaching the goal of ending chronic
street homelessness.  The essential elements are:

o A paradigm shift in the goals and approaches of the
homeless assistance network;
o Setting a clear goal of reducing chronic street
homelessness;
o Committing to a community-wide level of organization;
o Having leadership and an effective organizational
structure; and
o Having significant resources from mainstream public
agencies that go well beyond homeless-specific funding
sources.

The other key elements that were present in the
communities are:

o A trigger event that galvanized the approach;
o Significant involvement of the private sector;
o Commitment and support from mayors, city and county
councils, and other local elected officials;
o Having a mechanism to track progress, provide feedback,
and support improvements;
o Being willing to try new approaches to services, and
o Having a strategy to handle and minimize negative
reactions to locating projects in neighborhoods (NIMBY
responses).

The report makes suggestions for policy changes,
practice, and research.

"Strategies for Reducing Chronic Street Homelessness" is
available as a free download at
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/homeless/chronic_homeless.html
or in printed form for a nominal fee by calling HUD USER
at 1-800-245-2691.
--------------------------------------
Please contact HUD USER at:
HUD USER
P.O. Box 23268
Washington, DC 20026-3268
1-800-245-2691
1-800-927-7589 (TDD)
202-708-9981 (fax)
--------------------------------------
The HUD USER News listserv was created to keep
professionals in the fields of housing and community
development abreast of new research and resources
available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development's Office of Policy Development and Research
(PD&R). Periodically, publications and announcements will
be sent via the listserv.

Share HUD USER's resources and information with a
colleague. Please consider forwarding this e-mail to an
associate who may be interested in the resources HUD USER
has to offer. Thanks!

To stay abreast of new HUD research and resources,
subscribe to HUD USER News. This listserv will
automatically e-mail you publication announcements and
other notices from HUD's Office of Policy Development and
Research. To subscribe, send a message to:
hudusernews@huduser.gov. In the subject of the message,
type: subscribe. For example:
To: hudusernews@huduser.gov
Subject: subscribe

You will receive a confirmation message with instructions
on how to post messages to the list, search the message
archives, and how to unsubscribe. You may use your web
browser to search the listserv message archives at
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/elist/archive.html