Unsheltered Homelessness

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.

Encampment resolution is a strategic approach focused on connecting unsheltered individuals to stable housing rather than displacing them through sweeps. This method employs evidence-based practices to connect people with housing solutions and prevent re-encampment, involving a wide range of stakeholders to address both the needs of the encampment residents and the community’s broader concerns.