This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to have a conversation with Dennis Culhane, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a homelessness expert. Dr. Culhane has helped pioneer the homelessness response system, creating ways to link administrative data to service utilization patterns of vulnerable populations. He has also worked directly with the White House to tackle homelessness. Most recently, he released an extensive report on the homelessness situation in Los Angeles, California (see link below). According to Dr. Culhane, it is pivotal to use data when coming up with solutions to America’s homelessness crisis.
Dr. Culhae also spoke about his focus on veteran homelessness. He has served as Director of Research at the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans.
The most interesting portion of our conversation was our discussion on the solutions to California’s homelessness crisis. First, he laid out that California has so many unsheltered individuals mainly due to the state’s minimal welfare infrastructure as opposed to the weather. Specifically, California was slow to implement a welfare system compared to East Coast cities. This finding helped change my misconception about why California has struggled so much to reduce its unsheltered homeless population.
Next, Dr. Culhane explained his actionable solution that he has been lobbying the U.S. government: rental subsidies. After witnessing decades of inefficiency in the shelter response system, Dr. Culhane hopes the US Government gives homeless individuals $1000 per month to spend on rent. He elucidates how this solution will give the transitioning unhoused individuals more responsibilities, which will consequently further incentivize them to remain housed. However, people will not be left entirely on their own. Dr. Culhane recommends that we combine rental subsidies with case managers, who can guide people along the process, whether it’s mental health struggles to financial instability. Case managers are already widely used in the current shelter response system. These $1000 rental subsidies with be provided directly by the federal government to ensure full efficiency. He also mentioned the power of Medicaid to fund California’s aging homeless population, as well as incentivize the California governor to make a bigger impact on the issue.
If you would like to read more about Dr. Culhane’s research, below are a couple of helpful links:
https://aisp.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Emerging-Crisis-of-Aged-Homelessness.pdf
file:///D:/Downloads/PSA%20Year%205%20Outcomes%20report%20w%20names_stamped%20(1).pdf
