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Black Californians make up only 7% of the states population, but make up more than 25% of the state's population of people who experience homelessness. A recent special report released by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative on Black Californians' experiences homelessness highlights the systemic racism. Kara Young Ponder, PhD, director of community engagement and racial justice at the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "California is one million units short of affordable and available housing for extremely low-income renters, of which Black Californians are over represented."

Black Californians are nearly four times more likely than White Californians to experience homelessness. This webinar is about the causes and consequences of homelessness for Black Californians. Kara Young Ponder, PhD, Tiana Moore, PhD, Lived Expertise Advisory Board Members Sage Johnson and Robynne Rose-Haymer, and National Alliance to End Homelessness VP of Research and Evidence Joy Moses discussed findings from the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH), highlighted key policy recommendations, and answered audience questions.

To better understand the experiences of Black Californians experiencing homelessness, the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative examined the experience of Black Californians within the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH), the largest representative study of homelessness since the mid-1990s. This report reviews who experiences homelessness in the Black community, what may have precipitated their homelessness, experiences during their episode of homelessness, and what impacts their return to permanent housing. These findings aim to inform evidence-based solutions for preventing and ending homelessness for Black Californians.

The University of California, San Francisco Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI) today released a special report on Black Californians’ experiences of homelessness. The report explores who in the Black community experiences homelessness, how they lost their housing, their experiences while homeless, and the barriers they face to regaining housing. The goal of the report is to inform evidence-based solutions for preventing and ending homelessness for Black Californians.

In this op-ed, Meghan D. Morris, PhD, MPH, an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, calls for rapid hepatitis C testing. She outlines the current testing process for hepatitis C, creating structural barriers, and how improving testing can address racial disparities. Dr. Morris writes, "It’s time for a comprehensive approach to eliminate hepatitis C, addressing racial disparities and ensuring timely diagnosis and treatment initiation." This op-ed was published as part of the Public Voices Fellowship in partnership with The OpEd Project and funding from the California Health Care Foundation.

Domestic violence – also known as Intimate Partner Violence – is one of the leading causes of homelessness, particularly for victims with limited financial resources. A new study released last month by the University of California San Francisco Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative finds that at least 17% of homeless people fled their homes because of partner violence.

In this op-ed, Ryan Assaf, PhD, MPH, a postdoctoral fellow with the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, highlights the importance of using harm reduction strategies. He outlines the use and impact of needle exchange programs, reducing the transmission of viral infections and acting as a bridge to other services. Dr. Assaf further emphasizes that criminalizing drug use will not make the problem disappear. "These services create a space of trust where individuals who use drugs can seek help, referrals, and navigation to substance use treatment and counseling if and when they are ready for it." Dr. Assaf writes. This op-ed was published as part of the Public Voices Fellowship in partnership with The OpEd Project and funding from the California Health Care Foundation.

In this op-ed, Kara Young Ponder, PhD, director of community engagement and racial justice at the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, calls for housing to be a human right. She outlines how having a home remains a privilege and the lack of resources to compete in the housing market displaces people into homelessness. Dr. Ponder writes, "Housing is a vital standard of humanity." This op-ed was published as part of the Public Voices Fellowship in partnership with The OpEd Project and funding from the California Health Care Foundation.

Between 2010 ad 2022, the population of veterans experiencing homelessness has dropped by more than 50%. The long term success in reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness among veterans is the funding to cover the costs and coordinated efforts between the local, state, and federal agencies. The Veterans Affair's approach to homelessness offers a model for how to decrease the number of people experiencing homelessness nationwide. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, that the VA has a clear, "organized mechanism" to screen and offer support services for veterans.

Housing is a primary social determinant of health and a new study published in Health Affairs shows that lung and colorectal cancer mortality was higher among veterans who were unhoused compared to those who were housed. Hannah C. Decker, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco and lead author, and her colleagues suggest that "adopting the VA’s strategies in other settings where people without housing seek care, particularly for patients diagnosed with cancer, may help improve outcomes in this vulnerable population."

At least 19 states are directing funds from Medicaid programs to help patients who are experiencing homelessness find housing and avoid eviction. Evidence supporting redirecting Medicaid funding to housing is mixed. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "It’s much better than nothing, but it’s far from providing the long-term housing and stability that people really need."

Hosted by the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (the Partnership), lead researcher Anita Hargrave, MD, UCSF BHHI Policy Director Tiana Moore, PhD, and CPEDV staff dove deeper into policy recommendations and solutions that arose from the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH) findings on the intersection of intimate partner violence and homelessness. The webinar featured an in-depth discussion of local and state opportunities, as well as funding and programmatic policy recommendations for advocates, policymakers, and other decision-makers.

Volunteers, on a clear night in San Francisco, count the number of people who are unhoused on the streets. Groups of people were assigned specific areas, and write down whether a person is confirmed, suspected, or if no one on the block is unhoused. The point-in-time count is nationwide. However, the counts are not perfect and some groups are undercounted. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "Homeless families do everything they can to stay out of the public eye because they are really worried, for good reason, that their children will be taken from them."

Cancer is a leading cause of death in older unhoused adults. In this retrospective cohort study, researchers assessed whether being unhoused, gaining housing, or losing housing in the year after cancer diagnosis is associated with poorer survival compared with being continuously housed. Researchers used a national sample of veterans with lung, colorectal, and breast cancer during the period of 2011-2020. Findings showed veterans who were unhoused before and for the twelve months after their diagnosis had 10–20 percent greater risk for all-cause mortality than veterans who were consistently housed, even after adjustment for multiple factors.

On a single night in 2023, more than 653,000 people experienced homelessness in the United States. In this overview, researchers highlight the structural and individual risk factors that lead to homelessness, explore evidence on the relationship between homelessness and health, discuss programmatic and policy innovations, and provide policy recommendations.

In this op-ed, Marguerita Lightfoot, PhD, MA, Associate Dean for Research at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, highlights the need to make youth experiencing homelessness more visible. She outlines that the estimates of youth experiencing homelessness are vastly underrepresented. Youth experiencing homelessness are often not in the locations that are surveyed. Dr. Lightfoot writes, "It falls to HUD and lawmakers to make the invisible, visible — to look for and truly see young people experiencing homelessness." This op-ed was published as part of the Public Voices Fellowship in partnership with The OpEd Project and funding from the California Health Care Foundation.

The point-in-time count is a survey that measures the number of people staying in shelters. Data from the point-in-time count has its limitations, but the information is still valuable. San Francisco has a team of workers and volunteers to conduct the count; each group is given a detailed map of streets and alleyways and instructions on how to record the findings. With regards to the value of point-in-time count, Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "It’s easy to understand that there are way too many people experiencing homelessness, but it would help us to understand what is happening in people’s lives right before they’re homeless."