IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i2p526-d477919.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Making the Case for Proactive Strategies to Alleviate Homelessness: A Systems Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Sara Nourazari

    (Health Care Administration Department, California State University, Long Beach, CA 90840, USA)

  • Kristina Lovato

    (School of Social Work, California State University, Long Beach, CA 90840, USA)

  • Suzie S. Weng

    (School of Social Work, California State University, Long Beach, CA 90840, USA)

Abstract

Homelessness is a complex public health issue that affects some of the most vulnerable populations in the United States. This study takes a holistic approach to better understand and analyze the multiple factors and their interconnections that contribute to the complexity of this problem. A systems analysis was conducted by utilizing the system dynamics method, which allows analyzing and comparing trends and behavior of system outcomes for different “what if” scenarios, interventions, and policy implications. Three leverage points were identified in this study to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the current strategies to address homelessness: (1) increasing the number of affordable permanent housing units, (2) increasing the utilization of transitional housing units or shelters by the individuals experiencing homelessness, and (3) providing preventative services to at-risk populations before the onset of homelessness. Our results demonstrate that the most effective strategy is an amalgam of the solutions identified by these three leverage points. In addition, a policy analysis was conducted to study and estimate the effectiveness of various potential scenarios. This research provides data-driven and model-based insights into how decision-makers can utilize a systems approach to analyze new policy implications and create effective solutions to homelessness.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Nourazari & Kristina Lovato & Suzie S. Weng, 2021. "Making the Case for Proactive Strategies to Alleviate Homelessness: A Systems Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-12, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:526-:d:477919
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/526/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/526/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Gaetz, 2020. "Making the Prevention of Homelessness a Priority: The Role of Social Innovation," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 79(2), pages 353-381, March.
    2. Ivis García & Keuntae Kim, 2020. "“ I Felt Safe ”: The Role of the Rapid Rehousing Program in Supporting the Security of Families Experiencing Homelessness in Salt Lake County, Utah," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Corinth, Kevin, 2017. "The impact of permanent supportive housing on homeless populations," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 69-84.
    4. Huang, Donna & Spinney, Angela & Beer, Andrew & MacKenzie, David & McNelis, Sean & Meltzer, Ariella & Muir, Kristy & Peters, Andrew & valentine, kylie, 2020. "Ending homelessness in Australia: A redesigned homelessness service system," SocArXiv 5p7dt, Center for Open Science.
    5. Goodman, Sarena & Messeri, Peter & O’Flaherty, Brendan, 2014. "Reprint of “How effective homelessness prevention impacts the length of shelter spells”," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 101-108.
    6. Brumley, Benjamin & Fantuzzo, John & Perlman, Staci & Zager, Margaret L., 2015. "The unique relations between early homelessness and educational well-being: An empirical test of the Continuum of Risk Hypothesis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 31-37.
    7. Kushel, M.B. & Perry, S. & Bangsberg, D. & Clark, R. & Moss, A.R., 2002. "Emergency department use among the homeless and marginally housed: Results from a community-based study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(5), pages 778-784.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Iria Noa de la Fuente-Roldán & Ana Isabel Corchado-Castillo & Ana Dorado-Barbé, 2023. "Mental Health and Homelessness in the Community of Madrid (Spain): The Impact of Discrimination and Violence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Kate Frazer & Thilo Kroll, 2022. "Understanding and Tackling the Complex Challenges of Homelessness and Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-3, March.
    3. Won-Chul Bing, 2021. "Sociopolitical Approach to the Launch History of the KBO League: Application of Complex System Paradigm," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-15, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. O'Flaherty, Brendan, 2019. "Homelessness research: A guide for economists (and friends)," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-25.
    2. Nicholas Chiumenti, 2019. "The growing shortage of affordable housing for the extremely low income in Massachusetts," New England Public Policy Center Policy Reports 19-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    3. Rouse, Heather L. & Choi, Ji Young & Riser, Quentin H. & Beecher, Constance C., 2020. "Multiple risks, multiple systems, and academic achievement: A nationally representative birth-to-five investigation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Julie Broderick & Sinead Kiernan & Niamh Murphy & Joanne Dowds & Cliona Ní Cheallaigh, 2021. "Feasibility of a Broad Test Battery to Assess Physical Functioning Limitations of People Experiencing Homelessness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-11, January.
    5. Liu, Edgar & valentine, kylie & Batterham, Deb & Stone, Wendy & Martin, Chris & Parkinson, Sharon & Hynes, Danielle, 2023. "Poverty and Australian housing: findings from an Investigative Panel," SocArXiv q2tfs, Center for Open Science.
    6. Lee, Christopher Thomas & Guzman, David & Ponath, Claudia & Tieu, Lina & Riley, Elise & Kushel, Margot, 2016. "Residential patterns in older homeless adults: Results of a cluster analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 131-140.
    7. Kevin Corinth & Grace Finley, 2020. "The geography of unsheltered homelessness in the city: Evidence from “311” calls in New York," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 628-652, September.
    8. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Herault, Nicolas & Scutella, Rosanna & Tseng, Yi-Ping, 2016. "A journey home: What drives how long people are homeless?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 57-72.
    9. Goodman, Sarena & Messeri, Peter & O'Flaherty, Brendan, 2016. "Homelessness prevention in New York City: On average, it works," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 14-34.
    10. A Parrott, Kristin & Huslage, Melody & Cronley, Courtney, 2022. "Educational equity: A scoping review of the state of literature exploring educational outcomes and correlates for children experiencing homelessness," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    11. Downes, Henry & Phillips, David C. & Sullivan, James X., 2022. "The effect of emergency financial assistance on healthcare use," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    12. Morgane Gabet & Guy Grenier & Zhirong Cao & Marie-Josée Fleury, 2019. "Predictors of Emergency Department Use among Individuals with Current or Previous Experience of Homelessness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-12, December.
    13. Angelina L. DeMarco & Rebecca Hardenbrook & Jeff Rose & Daniel L. Mendoza, 2020. "Air Pollution-Related Health Impacts on Individuals Experiencing Homelessness: Environmental Justice and Health Vulnerability in Salt Lake County, Utah," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-16, November.
    14. Alison L. Weightman & Mark J. Kelson & Ian Thomas & Mala K. Mann & Lydia Searchfield & Simone Willis & Ben Hannigan & Robin J. Smith & Rhiannon Cordiner, 2023. "Exploring the effect of case management in homelessness per components: A systematic review of effectiveness and implementation, with meta‐analysis and thematic synthesis," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(2), June.
    15. Ghasri, Milad & Stone, Wendy & Easthope, Hazel & Veeroja, Piret, 2022. "Predicting risk to inform housing policy and practice," SocArXiv shk5j, Center for Open Science.
    16. Miyawaki, Atsushi & Burke, Laura G. & Khullar, Dhruv & Tsugawa, Yusuke, 2020. "Comparison of 30-day readmission and emergency department revisit rates among homeless patients at teaching versus non-teaching hospitals," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    17. Canham, Sarah L. & Donovan, Morrison & Rose, Jeff & Jones, Shannon & Garcia, Ivis, 2023. "Transportation needs and mobility patterns of persons experiencing homelessness following shelter decentralization," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    18. William N. Evans & David C. Phillips & Krista Ruffini, 2021. "Policies To Reduce And Prevent Homelessness: What We Know And Gaps In The Research," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 914-963, June.
    19. Stone, Wendy & Sharam, Andrea & Goodall, Zoë & reynolds, margaret & Sinclair, Sarah & Faulkner, Debbie & James, Amity & Zhang, Thomas, 2024. "Gendered housing matters: toward gender-responsive data and policy making," SocArXiv 5g7b3, Center for Open Science.
    20. Ivis García, 2024. "The Value of Reentry Housing, Zoning, and “Not in My Back Yard” (NIMBY) Obstacles, and How to Overcome Them," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-18, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:526-:d:477919. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.