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Document Type: | General |
Publish Date: | 2019 |
Primary Author: | Ian Gabriel, Elly Schoen, and Victoria Ciudad-Rea |
Edited By: | Arsalan Hasan |
Published By: | Homelessness Policy Research Institute |
Permanent supportive housing (PSH) has emerged as a cost effective and impactful housing intervention for people experiencing chronic homelessness, which the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines as an individual with a substance use disorder and/or a mental or physical disability who has been homeless for at least a year. Evidence suggests that PSH, which combines non-time-limited affordable housing and wraparound support services, not only improves health outcomes and housing stability but also reduces costly healthcare service utilization and criminal justice system involvement (Hunter et al., 2017). However, competition for capital funding, rising costs of land and construction, restrictive zoning and building regulations, and limited staff capacity of PSH developers prevent PSH construction from accelerating and scaling at a rate that would meet demand (Nonprofit Finance Fund, 2019; Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles, 2018, National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine, 2018).