In this article, Christopher argues that the growing movement to scale back Housing First is misguided. Despite recent political criticism — often driven more by ideology than evidence — the model continues to deliver what research has long shown: stable housing is the most effective foundation for improving health, safety, and long-term stability. The piece warns that shifting resources away from permanent housing will deepen homelessness by pushing people back into shelters, policing, and short-term fixes.

At its core, the article makes a simple case: Housing First isn’t failing — our housing systems are. Protecting this approach means recommitting to the principle that housing is the starting point for recovery and stability, not a prize to be earned.

This presentation introduced a structured, data-focused methodology for analyzing how racial and ethnic inequities emerge and persist within homelessness response systems. Using HMIS data disaggregated by race and ethnicity, it demonstrated how disparities can surface at multiple points in the system—from who enters, to how long individuals remain homeless, to how people exit, and how coordinated entry sets priorities.

The session broke the system into its core components and explored key metrics such as inflow, length of time homeless, exit destinations, and returns to homelessness. These indicators helped illustrate where system processes may be reinforcing racial inequities. Through trend analyses and concrete examples, the presentation showed how communities can apply this approach to identify inequities and inform more equitable policy, practice, and funding decisions.

Participants left with a replicable framework—including guiding questions, measurable indicators, and analytical techniques—to support deeper understanding and action on racial disparities within their local homelessness response systems.

Presented at NHSDC Spring 2025 Conference | New Orleans

Chris explores how government intervention in housing affordability did not anticipate the expiration of contracts and changing housing market conditions, and did not develop a proactive plan to address lapsing affordability contracts. 

Homelessness is a growing humanitarian, public health, and racial justice crisis in many North American cities, and the housing-first policy has been adopted as an evidence-based solution. However, the large-scale success of this policy is dependent on the availability of affordable housing. This thesis investigates the impacts of tightening housing markets and decreasing rental affordability on housing-first policies at the community level. Using a case study approach, this thesis utilizes mixed data sources to investigate the effects tightening housing markets are having on the housing-first approaches of Chittenden County, Vermont, which has experienced some of the highest percentage increases of homelessness in the nation over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study analyzes the ways the local practitioners and policymakers are adapting to these new constraints and innovating to further the housing-first approach. The study finds that tightening housing markets are decreasing the supply of affordable rental units available through the private market and negatively impacting the housing outcomes of the homelessness response system. Furthermore, the community is responding by expanding short-term shelter options, increasing system coordination, and addressing the long-term housing supply issue for low-income households. These interventions attempt to correct for the lack of accessible housing provided by the market for low-income households.