Resource Roundup: Understanding and Implementing Housing First

At the recent Solutions for Individual Homeless Adults Conference, our executive director, Matthew Doherty, encouraged communities to embrace “the knowledge and the evidence to resist arguments that a focus on Housing First is imposing a one-size-fits-all solution on people or programs.”

We can, he said, focus on the truth that: “Housing First approaches compel us to understand people as unique individuals and to create person-centered solutions to individual and specific housing and service needs—solutions that are not driven by our preferred program design, or by our own limitations about who we are best at working with. Solutions that are instead driven by who people are and how we can best support them to end their own homelessness.”

The truth is that Housing First approaches, implemented well, help make sure we don’t leave anyone behind.

Here are some resources to help you understand and implement a Housing First approach:

Understanding

• Housing First: Ending Homelessness, Transforming Systems, and Changing Lives – This book by Sam Tsemberis and his colleagues provides the history and framing of Housing First in the broader context of U.S. homelessness policy.
• Sam Tsemberis on the Center for Social Innovation’s Changing the Conversation podcast – Sam speaks with Jeff Olivet about the history of Housing First. (Scroll down or search the page for Housing First: Retention and Recovery or listen on iTunes .)
• Lloyd Pendleton’s TED Talk on Housing First - Lloyd spoke about using Housing First to end chronic homelessness. (And don’t miss Lloyd on The Daily Show !)
• The Evidence Behind Approaches that Drive an End to Homelessness – This brief describes and reviews some of the evidence behind Housing First approaches.
• Richard Cho on Four Clarifications about Housing First and It’s Time We Talked the Walk on Housing First

Implementing

• Housing First Checklist: Assessing Projects and Systems for a Housing First Orientation - This tool can help assess whether a program or system is employing a Housing First approach.
• Housing First Assessment Tool (HUD) - This tool can assess and measure a project’s progress in aligning with Housing First best practice standards.
• Using a Housing First Philosophy When Serving Youth (HUD) - This brief provides an overview of the Housing First philosophy and how it applies to youth-serving projects.
• Housing First and Access to Housing Model (CSH) - This resource provides a brief overview of the philosophy of Housing First as well as how to streamline access into housing.
• Presentations and materials from the 2018 Housing First Partners Conference .