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As the homeless crisis has deepened in cities across the country, many have pointed to untreated mental health as a root cause of the crisis. But what is the relationship between mental health and homelessness? In this episode of HOMELAND, a 10-episode series that brings clarity to the homelessness crisis, host Ben Kay speaks with Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, and other experts to explore this central question as we seek to better understand the connection between human thought and action.

City of Los Angeles officials are finally confronting a question that has seemed too big to answer: How much would it actually cost to get every person living on the street today indoors and make sure that no one languished there for years again? A new report states that it would cost $21.7 billion over a decade to end homelessness in LA. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "I would rather live in a place that spent its money on allowing people to live in community with choice and autonomy over their lives."

The gap between wages and housing prices has pushed more workers into homelessness. Increasing the number of affordable housing units is key. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "Housing is the root of all safety and security. Without housing, everything else falls apart."

Since the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson on June 28th loosed clearance rules, 12 California cities or counties have passed camping bans, while another nine are considering them or have already given initial approval. Palm Springs stopped short of exercising all authority granted to cities, with the new ordinance complying with a previous court ruling. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "We need housing. We need subsidies. We need not just affordable housing, but we need deeply affordable housing."

Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order allowing state and local officials to dismantle homeless encampments has drawn mixed reactions from homelessness experts within California. he executive order calls for state agencies to remove homeless encampments from state lands, such as state parks, beaches, agency buildings, highways, and the areas beneath them. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "A lot of harm can come from sweeps, and ultimately, if you don’t offer people a real outcome, they’re just going to have to move someplace else because they can’t dematerialize; they will show up someplace else."

California’s homeless crisis is reaching unprecedented levels. In this podcast episode of Invisible People, Margot Kushel, MD, Division Chief of the UCSF Action Research Center for Health Equity, and the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, breaks down the findings of the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH). Dr. Kushel said, "We need to have a maniacal focus on creating more housing."

In this episode of KPFA Letters and Politics, host Mitch Jeserich spoke with Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, about the myths and misinformation about homelessness. Dr. Kushel said, "This idea of a max exodus is simply not true. "

As the number of people experiencing homelessness in California has grown, so has the pressure on state and local leaders to improve the situation. On July 25th, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order directing state agencies to clear encampments from state-owned land. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "This didn’t happen overnight. … It’s hard to unwind 40 years of bad policies in four years."

Governor Newsom of California and advocates agree that the homelessness crisis is decades in the making, but opinions differ over whether Governor Newsom's conservative policy approach will help fix the issue. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "There is no easy way out of this. I have deep compassion for everybody’s frustration. I’m frustrated. I want this problem to be over. I understand this is unacceptable, but I think when you’re in a hole, you need to stop digging."

More than 3,000 of the 11,500 people who died while unhoused in Los Angeles County between 2014 and 2023 were 60 and older. This crisis has grown over time. In a groundbreaking study on homelessness in California by Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative researchers found that nearly half of unhoused adults were age 50 and older. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "They talk about how ashamed and stigmatized they feel – they know the public thinks they’re bad because they’re outside. And they just feel incredibly alone in the world."