California passed the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act in 2022 to provide behavioral health and housing services to individuals with psychotic spectrum and schizophrenia disorders who are deemed unable to care for themselves. This policy brief from the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at UCSF and the California Policy Lab uses anonymized data to estimate how many San Franciscans in a database of individuals who have contact with the urgent and emergent care system may be eligible for referral to CARE Court and describe their service needs.

Public policy academics Pamela Herd and Don Moynihan have an interesting brief in Health Affairs on how administrative burdens can harm the health of low-income people. Herd and Moynihan quite literally wrote the book on administrative burdens, so their work on the subject is always worth a look.

In this op-ed, Lourdes Johanna Avelar Portillo, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow with the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, underscores the importance of providing access to water and sanitation services to people who are experiencing homelessness. She explains how the lack of water and other hygiene services can create added barriers among those experiencing homelessness, increasing stigmatization, as well as an increase risk in public health. Dr. Protillo writes, "the need for public access to water, sanitation and hygiene services is not just for people experiencing homelessness — it’s important to everyone." 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.

This brief, based on our analysis of Census Pulse Data and a survey administered by BHHI and partners at UC Berkeley and UC ANR Nutrition Policy Institute, includes recommendations for how public and nonprofit entities in California can improve emergency rental assistance uptake among low-income renters. Because many survey respondents said they were not aware of the emergency rental assistance program's existence, our core recommendation is that various entities engage in public outreach to renters who are likely to be eligible for assistance.

As a board member of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI) Lived Expertise Advisory Board that played a major role in the design and implementation of the Californ...

This piece was originally published in Newsweek and is reprinted with permission. Over 7,000 people were displaced by the wildfires in Maui one month ago. So far, nearly 80 families ...

This brief on the Home Safe program summarizes key findings from the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative’s (BHHI) interim evaluation of the program. It includes a brief description of the program, an overview of the evaluation’s design, and an assessment of the Governor’s 2021-22 budget proposal to expand Home Safe eligibility.

In this op-ed, Maria Raven, MD, MPH, associate director at the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, explains how homelessness is not just a housing issue, but a health care issue. She outlined the pertinent health needs of people experiencing homelessness and the barriers of treating illness against a background of homelessness. Dr. Raven writes, "The health care system in general, and emergency departments specifically, cannot solve this problem — we can only respond to its consequences." 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 Terner Center for Housing Innovation has issued a new report looking at the pressures that force extremely low-income households in the Bay Area to the edge of homelessness. Policy manager Ned Resnikoff looks at what the report has to say about how income disparities contribute to the region's crisis of housing affordability.

Much of BHHI’s work is rooted in a simple premise: The solution to homelessness is housing. While lack of a permanent home is not the only challenge facing most unhoused people, it is the one challenge they all have in common. And whatever other challenges they may have—whether they include persistent unemployment, physical disability, mental illness, or none of the above—are significantly harder to manage for people who are simultaneously dealing with the stress of homelessness. Giving people homes creates the conditions necessary for them to heal and flourish.

The Atlantic published an article on a new strain of crystal meth said to be “worsening America’s homelessness problem.” Policy manager Ned Resnikoff examines how the piece showcases common misconceptions about homelessness.

To address intergenerational homelessness and housing insecurity, protecting low-income families and mitigating the risk of their children experiencing homelessness is paramount.

Over the weekend, Ned Resnikoff had an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle considering California’s homelessness crisis in light of its similarities to the climate crisis. One theme in this piece is the need for federal intervention. California has long been a leader among U.S. states on climate policy, and in recent years it has started to make significant progress in developing effective programs to prevent and end homelessness.

Health impacts of encampment sweeps, racial inequities in harm reduction, and more homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Why a renter protections bill failed in the California legislature, and more homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Social housing, CEQA explained, and more homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

BHHI is hiring, a profile of the San Francisco Community Land Trust, and more homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.

Homelessness and housing news from the past week that you may have missed.