Researchers Call for Community-Based Housing-First Approach to Homelessness

Posted by Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity on March 18, 2025

In this Spotlight Exclusive, we highlight a webinar hosted by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where experts examined the growing homelessness crisis and the need for housing-focused solutions. U.S. homelessness surged by 18% in 2024, with family homelessness rising by 39%, highlighting urgency for effective policies. Historian and professor Cindy I-Fen Cheng, discussed the origins of anti-homelessness policies and how urban renewal efforts often displaced low-income communities rather than providing sustainable housing. Political scientist Katherine Levine Einstein emphasized that although rising housing costs are a primary driver of homelessness, only 54% of major U.S. cities have a dedicated plan to address the crisis. “And I think seeing homelessness not as a housing problem, but as a problem of disorder and addiction has led mayors to tend to favor policy solutions that are oriented more around sort of punitive solutions and reactive solutions,” Einstein said. Despite political hesitation, economist David Phillips reinforced that housing-first strategies, which combine stable housing with support services, have consistently demonstrated success in reducing homelessness.

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