Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Housing First is an approach to ending homelessness that separates housing from services.  Individuals’ housing placement and retention are not conditional on medication adherence and sobriety, and participation in treatment programs and support services is voluntary.  In 2002, President George W. Bush and Philip Mangano, then Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) embraced the Housing First approach and challenged the country to end chronic homelessness in ten years.  Many cities across the nation adopted the Housing First approach, but there is variation across programs and critics claim the model lacks clarity.

This paper uses a comparative case study approach to examine Housing First programs in five select cities: Austin, TX; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; and Salt Lake City, UT.  It focuses on the challenges programs face and how they respond, including the methods used to establish partnerships with landlords, governmental entities, and other service providers.  Data were collected from reviewing documents and conducting in-depth interviews with administrators and/or case managers of Housing First programs.  Data collection is ongoing.  Thus far, twenty-one individuals were interviewed across seventeen programs in these cities.  Initial findings show the value Housing First program place on these partnerships because of the impact on service delivery and the innovative methods they use to develop and maintain these relationships.  This highlights the importance of coordination and collaboration, which can strengthen or hinder Housing First programs’ ability in serving the homeless.