Tackling Homelessness Nationally:

Adapting Services and Improving Housing Options

Key Speakers

Alice Colegrove, Senior Consultant, Massachusetts Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Commission

Victoria Bourret, Housing Advocacy Organizer, National Low Income Housing Coalition

Kara Mergl, Director of State Policy, CSH

Jennifer Speight, Community Advocate, Community Family Life Services

Dan Treglia, Professor of Practice, University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice

Overview

Over half a million people go homeless on any given night in the United States. Approximately 65% can find shelter while the rest (nearly 200,000 people) are forced to live in the streets and other areas not suitable for human habitation. Unsheltered individuals experience a host of medical, safety and psychological risks that make any night on the streets potentially fatal, let alone an extended period. 

Our homelessness crisis has also been characterized with inequity and intense persecution. Homelessness is significantly defined by gender.  Sixty percent of all people experiencing homelessness are male.  Amongst individuals, the numbers are starker—70 percent are men and unaccompanied male youth. Up to 40% of youth experiencing homeless identify as LGBTQ and face a host of challenges because of the stigma and persecution they face. Unsurprisingly, the severity of homelessness also falls on racial lines. Pacific Islanders and Native Americans are most likely to be homeless in America when compared to any other racial/ethnic groups with 160 out of 10,000 people compared to the national average of 17 out of 10,000. Black, Latino and multiracial Americans face rates of homelessness many times higher in comparison to their white counterparts. The systemic oppression America’s vulnerable populations face is compounded by the maltreatment they face from our legal system and homeowning communities that often want to remove homeless people rather than help them.

While many states have made progress reducing rates of homelessness, many others are doing worse than they have in decades. Homelessness is expected to increase in the face of a global pandemic that has stressed public funds and caused unemployment to skyrocket in an economy where thousands of people are a paycheck away from ending up on the streets. We will likely be facing a new wave of homelessness from these circumstances that we’ll be dealing with long after the pandemic is over. Social isolation and stay at home orders are next to impossible to follow when you have no home. Meeting COVID-19 related health requirements while providing services and housing will put a substantial strain on the system many will not be equipped to deal with.

This timely symposium provides an invaluable opportunity for case managers, social workers, community outreach specialists, housing authorities, developers, healthcare and mental health practitioners, and other key stakeholders to reflect on progress made, identify challenges and consider next steps in tackling homelessness across the nation. Cross-sector exchange will help facilitate better partnerships between civil society, the private sector and government actors. It will allow delegates to consider solutions to identified barriers and challenges related to policy implementation. Participants will be able to transfer key learnings and best practices to their own communities whether at the local, state or national level.

Delegates Will:

• Share strategies to adapt medical services in lieu of the pandemic

• Explore ways to make coordinated entry more equitable and effective 

• Discuss ways enhance access to shelters and improve shelter conditions

• Examine legislative trends in zoning laws and land use policy 

• Learn from street-based service programs 

• Build community support for affordable housing and homeless services

• Discuss how different sectors could collaborate to improve services and prevention for people experiencing homelessness

• Identify how to utilize alternative housing arrangements such as tiny homes, modular housing units, and multifamily homes

• Develop plans to tackle the growing eviction crisis happening across the country

Program

Who Should Attend?