The adage “prevention is better than cure” applies not just to health, but to homelessness, too.
A new study suggests that relatively modest financial efforts to prevent homelessness have been remarkably successful at keeping people off the streets. Specifically, it found the delivery of emergency financial assistance to at-risk families in California’s Santa Clara County reduced the risk of homelessness: vulnerable residents receiving such assistance were 81% less likely to become homeless within six months and 73% less likely within 12 months.
“Our study shows that financial assistance almost totally reduces the chance of somebody having the really severe outcome of becoming homeless,” researcher David Phillips said. The study, conducted by the University of Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities, was published earlier this month.
The research focused on two groups: families receiving financial support through the county’s Homelessness Prevention System and families that did not get such help. Those receiving assistance –averaging nearly $2,000 — used the money to pay rent, utilities and other housing-related expenses. The study was conducted between July 2019 and December 2020.
“There’s a group of people who aren’t able to receive financial assistance just because there’s not enough funding available. In that group, about four out of 100 will enter an emergency shelter in the few months after requesting assistance,” Phillips said. “The study found that when financial assistance enters the picture, that rate reduces almost to zero.”
The researchers also found that the benefits of the prevention program exceeded the costs. Beyond the cash assistance for families, landlords benefited because they avoided needing to fill vacant properties and the broader community likely benefited, the study said, from a reduction in violent crime.
According to the 2023 Point-in-Time Homeless Census, 9,903 people are living…
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