Legislative Updates 
Housing First
Housing First is an approach to ending homelessness that centers on providing homeless people with housing quickly and then providing services as needed. What differentiates a Housing First approach from traditional emergency shelter or transitional housing approaches is that it is “housing-based,” with an immediate and primary focus on helping individuals and families quickly access and sustain permanent housing. This approach has the benefit of being consistent with what most people experiencing homelessness want and seek help to achieve. Housing First programs share critical elements:
- There is a focus on helping individuals and families access and sustain permanent rental housing as quickly as possible and the housing is not time-limited;
- A variety of services are delivered primarily following a housing placement to promote housing stability and individual well-being;
- Such services are time-limited or long-term depending upon individual need; and
- Housing is not contingent on compliance with services – instead, participants must comply with a standard lease agreement and are provided with the services and supports that are necessary to help them do so successfully.
While all Housing First programs share these critical elements, program models vary significantly depending upon the population served. For people who have experienced chronic homelessness, there is an expectation that intensive (and often specialized) services will be needed indefinitely. The vast majority of homeless individuals and families do not experience chronic homelessness. Most often they have experienced a housing or personal crisis that led them to seek help from the homeless shelter system.
Housing First Network
The National Alliance to End Homelessness coordinates a network dedicated to Housing First. The purpose of the Housing First Network is to facilitate communication among those interested in developing, implementing, understanding, or refining a Housing First approach in their community. To join the Housing First listserv, please contact Sharon McDonald at smcdonald@naeh.org.
Community Snapshot: Quincy, MA
Between 2005 and 2008, chronic homelessness in Quincy, MA decreased by 50 percent.
Rapid Re-Housing Demonstration Program
Congress allocated $25 million for a Rapid Re-Housing Demonstration to serve homeless families. The experience of the 23 communities that received grants awards under the Demonstration can be an important resource for communities developing Rapid Re-Housing programs to serve families using HPRP or other funding resources. This resource collects information about what the Demonstration grantees are doing.
Organizational Change: Adopting a Housing First Approach
This document can help organizations that are planning to use HPRP resources to shift their organization's approach toward a rapid re-housing model.
Shifting Gears - Final Evaluation Summary
In June 2004, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation launched the Shifting Gears Initiative: Fast Track to Housing for Bay Area Families. The grants supported a shift away from “managing” homelessness toward programs and strategies aimed at ending homelessness. As a result, providers increasingly based their service delivery on rapid re-housing principles, families had shorter stays in shelter, and many families avoided entering the homeless service system altogether.
Rapid Re-Housing
Communities will be invited to compete for funds to provide short-term rental assistance, housing placement and short-term rental assistance as part of this year’s Continuum of Care application process. This brief provides currently available details on how the funds will be awarded and how they can be used.
Streets to Homes, Housing First in Toronto, Ontario: Getting Chronically Homeless People Back Into Housing
Streets to Homes is a Housing First program that has been operated by the city of Toronto since 2005. This strategy targets unsheltered homeless people, and provides them with government subsidized permanent housing with follow-up supports. To date, approximately 1,500 people have moved directly from living on the street into permanent housing units, and 87 percent have remained housed. Program administrators attribute the effectiveness of this program to the cooperation of community agencies and the coordination of the Shelter, Support, and Housing Administration of the City of Toronto.
Delivering for Families and Children: Community-Wide Housing First
A handful of communities are adopting community-wide Housing First approaches. In these communities, all families seeking shelter are assessed for Housing First services. The adoption of a community-wide Housing First strategy allows for system-wide reductions in shelter demand and targeting transitional and permanent supportive housing resources more efficiently. This workshop featured jurisdictions that have pioneered community-wide Housing First programs.
Frequently Asked Questions about Housing First for Individuals and Families
Answers to questions frequently asked about housing first for families and individuals.
Housing First for Individuals and Families
Housing First is an approach that guides a set of interventions designed to help homeless people transition more rapidly out of the shelter system; it includes crisis intervention, re-housing as quickly as possible, follow-up case management, and housing support services to prevent the reoccurrence of homelessness.
What is Housing First?
Housing First is an approach that centers on providing homeless people with housing quickly and then providing services as needed. What differentiates a Housing First approach from other strategies is that there is an immediate and primary focus on helping individuals and families quickly access and sustain permanent housing. This approach has the benefit of being consistent with what most people experiencing homelessness want and seek help to achieve.
