Housing First: Ending Homelessness, Transforming Systems, and Changing Lives

by Deborah Padgett, Benjamin Henwood, Sam Tsemberis

This book is the first to chronicle the story of Housing First (HF), a paradigm-shifting evidence-based approach to ending homelessness that began in New York City in 1992 and rapidly spread to other cities nationally and internationally. The authors report on the rise of a 'homeless industry' of shelters and transitional housing programs that the HF approach directly challenged by rejecting the usual demands of treatment, sobriety and housing readiness. Based upon principles of consumer choice, harm reduction and immediate access to permanent independent housing in the community, HF was initially greeted with skepticism and resistance from the 'industry'. However, rigorous experiments testing HF against 'usual care' produced consistent findings that the approach produced greater housing stability, lower use of drugs, and alcohol and cost savings. This evidence base, in conjunction with media accounts of HF's success, led to widespread adoption in the U.S., Canada, Western
Europe, and Australia.

The book traces the history of homelessness and the rapid growth of the publically funded homeless industry, an amalgam of religious and philanthropic organizations, advocacy groups, and non-profits that were insufficient to stem the tide of homelessness resulting from dramatic reductions in affordable housing in the 1980s and continuing to the present day. The authors summarize research findings on HF and include a chapter of personal stories of individuals who have experienced HF.

Unique to this book is the participation of the founder of HF (Tsemberis) and well-known research on HF by the co-authors (Padgett and Henwood). Also unique is the deployment of theories-organizational, institutional and implementation-to conceptually frame the rise of HF and its wide adoption as well as the resistance that arose in some places. Highly readable yet informative and scholarly, this book addresses wider issues of innovation and systems change in social and human services.

Genres: Nonfiction, Urban Planning, Social Justice

248 pages, Hardcover

First published September 22, 2015

Reviews

[Daniel Polansky]

An overview of the current housing model by which California and most of the rest of the country/Western world operate. This isn't really the place for a longer discussion of the merits of this policy, though I will say in brief that it probably works really well in places that have places to put homeless people. Alas, LA is not one of those places.

[Fritz Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you wanted a primer on the Housing First program and the possibilities that it presents in ending chronic homelessness, then look no further. I read it for a class i'm currently taking and I was blown away by the possibilities that HF presents as an effective strategy at ending homelessness.

[Sammy Stocking · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative and important, just very dense and not very exciting

[Adam Lauver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential.

[Ashley Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a text book 😂 but I’m super fascinated by solving homelessness and it had 13 pages of “references” so

[Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fine primer on the Housing First movement which, in a nutshell, posits that placing homeless or marginally housed people into their own, private dwellings is kinder, more cost-effective, and leads to better outcome than the traditional route of placing conditions on the provision of housing, including sobriety, keeping certain appointments with providers, or behaving in a certain way.

As with so many things in our society now, there seems to be a sharp divide in beliefs about the most effective means to deal with homelessness. Many people from many political and social ways of thinking continue to believe that the paternalistic urge to control and mold behaviors among those who are mentally ill and/or substance users is the right way to go and will lead to better lives for everyone concerned. There are many issues with this approach, primary among them the underlying philosophy. However, even leaving aside differences of opinion about the morality of those behaviors or the obligation the homeless have to earn stable housing, the fact is that this approach simply does not work. If our goal is to see those who are living in unstable housing, whether it be outdoors or in shelters, thriving and stable, placed in a position where interventions might improve their lives, the incentive models we have relied on simply do not work. They cost more and have a much higher failure rate than Housing First.

What this book is full of are studies that demonstrate the absolute truth of these assertions. Unlike much of the paternalistic model, which has not been rigorously studied, Housing First has now gone through decades of close scrutiny and can demonstrate its efficacy.

This is an academic text written by academics so is not a literary masterpiece; the writing is rather plodding and predictable. Of course, judging a book of this type on its literary merits may seem antithetical, but many books have managed to do both quite well, so it feels worth mentioning here. This is a truly great resource and an extremely important work, well worth your time to read. If you are on the fence about the right thing to do to solve homelessness, this is the book for you.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best textbooks I've ever read. Informative, concise, and easily digestible. I actually wanted to keep reading.

[Jeramey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came to this book well aware of the housing first strategy, and after reading the book didn't learn much beyond on a detailed history.

A worthy book to write because it chronicles a very important issue, but I think there are better, easier ways to absorb the concept.