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.

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.

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.

BHHI conducted in-depth interviews with 48 people living in their vehicles in Oakland. This report sheds light on the needs and challenges of vehicle residents and provides recommendations on how the city can better serve that population.

Half of people experiencing homelessness are older than 50, and almost half of older homeless adults became homeless for the first time after they turned 50. This webinar is about the causes and consequences of homelessness in late life. Margot Kushel, MD, and other BHHI presenters will discuss findings from the Health Outcomes of People Experiencing Homelessness in Older Middle Age (HOPE HOME) project—a longitudinal cohort study following older adults experiencing homelessness in Oakland, CA, and the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH)—the largest representative study of homelessness in the United States since the mid-1990s.

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.

The UCSF BHHI recently released a report on the largest representative study of homelessness in the United States since the mid-1990s—the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH). The CASPEH was guided by a Lived Expertise Advisory Board—a group of advisors from across the state of California who represent a range of lived and living experiences of homelessness—from rural and urban, living sheltered and unsheltered, young and old, in families and single. This webinar is about creating authentic and meaningful collaborations between researchers and people with lived experiences. Panelists discussed how this partnership between BHHI and the CASPEH LEAB brought equity, collaboration and shared power to each phase of the CASPEH. They also talked about what they did together and shared tips for forming a board to advise on research projects and programs.

Are you a researcher who wants to include people with lived experience in your research? Are you an organization that wants to authentically involve community members in your program development or evaluation? The UCSF BHHI recently released a report on the largest representative study of homelessness in the United States since the mid-1990s—the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH). The CASPEH was guided by a Lived Expertise Advisory Board—a group of advisors from across the state of California who represent a range of lived and living experiences of homelessness. Join Kara Young Ponder, PhD, Lived Expertise Advisory Board Members Michelle Ochoa, Dez Martinez, and Robynne Rose-Haymer as they discuss the nuts and bolts of how they did research together from designing survey questions to helping train field staff, analyzing data and disseminating findings. 

Domestic violence, frequently referred to as intimate partner violence (IPV), is a common precipitant of homelessness. This webinar is about the intersection of intimate partner violence and homelessness. Anita Hargrave, MD; Lived Expertise Advisory Board Members Jesica Giannola and Dez Martinez; Tiana Moore, PhD, and Debbie Chang, MPH, CEO of the Blue Shield of California Foundation discussed relevant findings from the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH), highlighted key policy recommendations, and answered audience questions.

The UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI) recently released a report on the largest representative study of homelessness in the United States since the mid-1990s—the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness. BHHI study staff administered nearly 3,200 questionnaires and conducted 365 in-depth interviews with adults experiencing homelessness in California to better understand the characteristics and experiences of adults experiencing homelessness, precipitants of homelessness, barriers and facilitators to regaining housing, and opportunities to better prevent and end homelessness. Our presenters, Margot Kushel, MD, Kara Ponder, PhD, Tiana Moore, PhD, and Sage Johnson discussed key findings from the study, reviewed evidence-based policy recommendations, and answered questions from attendees.