Strategies for Preventing and Ending Homelessness

A new report recommends a comprehensive, nationwide affordable housing plan as the ‘single most effective’ method of ending homelessness.

1 minute read

July 2, 2024, 8:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Tents covered with blue tarps in a homeless encampment on a lawn in Washington, D.C.

Rosemarie Mosteller / Adobe Stock

A report from the Urban Institute outlines strategies for ending and preventing homelessness.

According to the report, “The single most effective way to end homelessness nationwide would be to fund a comprehensive affordable housing plan that would include a universal voucher program. This would both help more people exit homelessness and prevent more people from entering into homelessness.”

The report recommends that Congress and the Biden administration take a series of actions including the expansion of voucher programs, incentivizing communities to end the criminalization of homelessness and fund programs to reduce unsheltered homelessness, and increasing access to healthcare and other services. The authors also recommend focusing on eviction prevention mechanisms that keep people from falling into homelessness in the first place.

The authors note that, with the right approach, the crisis is solvable. “Reducing homelessness is a math equation: help people exit homelessness faster than they are entering.”

Monday, July 1, 2024 in Urban Institute

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight