Unsheltered Homelessness : All Related Resources

This topic brief examines who experiences unsheltered homelessness, how they lost their housing, their experiences during homelessness, and barriers to regaining housing. The findings highlight the urgent need for the homelessness system to advance evidence-based strategies to meet the needs of unsheltered people.

Our Encampment Prioritization Tool is designed to help communities navigate the complex landscape of homelessness. By balancing the urgent need to address encampments with the chronic shortage of housing and shelter resources, along with health and safety considerations, this tool guides stakeholders in making informed decisions. It ensures that actions prioritize housing and shelter placements over displacement, aligning with broader systemic reforms to effectively manage and resolve encampments.

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 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."