Research: Housing First Works

Despite recent opinions that the homelessness response model known as Housing First is too expensive and inefficient, a report from the Urban Institute asserts that “Misconceptions about Housing First ignore decades of evidence of its effectiveness.”

According to the report, “Randomized controlled trials in the US and Canada have demonstrated how permanent supportive housing programs—most of which use the Housing First approach—improve housing and quality-of-life outcomes for participants in the short and long term. Studies have also shown how these programs can reduce reliance on costly emergency services (PDF) and increase access to community-based care.”

The report explains how Housing First interventions help people access supportive services and stable housing by connecting residents with services and healthcare. In Denver, for example, “Permanent supportive housing program participants were more likely to access housing and stay housed than people receiving services as usual. During the first year, people in the treatment group were housed for an average of 172 days, while those in the control group were housed for just 19 days.” More importantly, 80 percent of people in the treatment group were still housed after three years—a dramatic difference from 18 percent in the control group.

The report adds that, for Housing First programs to succeed, they must be funded appropriately. “Permanent supportive housing and other programs based in the Housing First approach can help us work toward ending homelessness. But to meet the housing and supportive-services needs of our communities, these programs need to be funded to scale.”