THE TEN ESSENTIALS

1. Plan
2. Data
3. Emergency Prevention
4. Systems Prevention
5. Outreach
6. Shorten Homelessness
7. Rapid Re-housing
8. Services
9. Permanent Housing
10. Income

Read Our Ten Year Plan

Permanent Housing

Your community has a sufficient supply affordable housing and permanent supportive housing to meet the needs of extremely low-income households and chronically homeless people.

Affordable Housing
Housing instability for extremely low-income households will continue until the supply of affordable housing increases substantially. While federal funding for affordable housing has dramatically declined over the past decade, states and municipalities have developed a number of strategies to respond to the housing needs of extremely low-income households.

The number of state and local housing trust funds has significantly increased since the 1990s, leveraging resources to increase the supply of affordable housing for low-income people. Some counties and cities have developed inclusionary zoning programs, requiring developers to include affordable housing units when building new developments. States and localities are also developing locally funded housing subsidy program, including short-term and shallow subsidies.

Supportive Housing
The cost of homelessness is high, particularly for those with chronic illnesses, mental health issues and addictions. Because they have no regular place to stay, life on the streets and in the shelter system exacerbates illness and leads to the use of a variety of public systems in an inefficient and costly way. Preventing a homeless episode or ensuring a speedy transition into stable, permanent housing can result in significant cost savings.

A landmark study conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that supportive housing―independent housing linked to comprehensive support services―provided major reductions in costs incurred by homeless mentally ill people across different service systems―$16,282 per person in a housing unit year round. When all the costs of supportive housing and public services are considered, it costs the public only $995 more a year to provide supportive housing to a mentally ill individual than it does to allow him or her to remain homeless.