Prevention Strategies That Work

Introduction

Preventing homelessness is not only more humane than addressing it after it occurs, but it's also more cost-effective and avoids the significant trauma associated with housing loss. While much attention is given to programs that help people exit homelessness, prevention strategies are equally important for a comprehensive approach to addressing housing instability.

This article examines evidence-based prevention strategies that have demonstrated effectiveness in keeping people housed. From emergency financial assistance to legal protections and targeted interventions for high-risk populations, these approaches offer practical ways to reduce the inflow of people into homelessness.

The Case for Prevention

Preventing homelessness offers several advantages over responding to it after it occurs:

Cost-Effectiveness

Research consistently shows that prevention is less expensive than addressing homelessness after it occurs:

• A 2020 study found that emergency rental assistance costs approximately $6,000-$10,000 per household, compared to $30,000-$50,000 for shelter stays and rehousing services
• Prevention avoids costly emergency system utilization (hospitals, jails, emergency shelters)
• Maintaining housing stability prevents disruptions to employment, education, and healthcare that have long-term economic costs

Trauma Prevention

Homelessness is a deeply traumatic experience with lasting impacts:

• Loss of housing often leads to separation from community, possessions, and support networks
• Exposure to unsafe conditions and victimization is common during homelessness
• Children experiencing homelessness face disrupted education and development
• The stress of homelessness exacerbates existing health conditions and creates new ones

System Efficiency

Prevention reduces pressure on overburdened homelessness response systems:

• Decreases demand for limited shelter beds and housing resources
• Allows homelessness services to focus on those with the highest needs
• Creates more manageable caseloads for service providers

Financial Assistance Programs

Financial interventions address the most common immediate cause of homelessness: inability to pay for housing.

Emergency Rental Assistance

Short-term financial help to maintain existing housing:

• Typically provides 1-6 months of rental assistance to resolve a temporary financial crisis
• Most effective when combined with housing stabilization services
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) prevented an estimated 1.36 million evictions
• Chicago's Homelessness Prevention Call Center found that callers who received assistance were 76% less likely to enter a shelter within 12 months

Utility Assistance

Help with energy bills to prevent housing loss:

• Programs like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) prevent utility shutoffs
• Utility arrears can lead to eviction or make housing uninhabitable
• Some programs also address water bills and other essential utilities

Security Deposit and First Month's Rent Assistance

Removing barriers to obtaining new housing:

• Helps people transition directly to new housing when current housing is no longer viable
• Particularly important for survivors of domestic violence and others who must leave unsafe housing
• Often combined with housing search assistance and landlord engagement

Flexible Financial Assistance

Adaptable funds that address various housing-related needs:

• Can cover expenses beyond rent: car repairs needed for work, medical bills, childcare, etc.
• Allows case managers to address the specific barriers each household faces
• Washington State's Flexible Funding program showed 76% of families remained stably housed after receiving assistance

"Prevention isn't just more humane than allowing people to become homeless—it's also fiscally responsible. Every dollar spent on targeted prevention saves multiple dollars in emergency response costs."

Legal and Policy Interventions

Legal protections and policy reforms can prevent evictions and housing discrimination:

Eviction Prevention and Diversion

Programs that prevent formal evictions through legal and mediation services:

• Right to counsel: New York City's implementation of right to counsel in housing court reduced evictions by 41% in neighborhoods where it was implemented
• Eviction diversion programs: Combine legal assistance, mediation, and financial aid to resolve landlord-tenant disputes before eviction
• Court-based rental assistance: Programs that provide immediate financial assistance at eviction court
• Tenant education: Programs that help tenants understand their rights and responsibilities

Just Cause Eviction Protections

Policies that limit evictions to specific legitimate reasons:

• Prevent arbitrary or retaliatory evictions
• Typically allow evictions for non-payment, lease violations, owner move-in, or substantial renovation
• Provide stability for tenants while maintaining landlords' ability to address legitimate issues

Source of Income Discrimination Protection

Laws prohibiting discrimination against tenants using housing subsidies or other income sources:

• Increase housing options for voucher holders and people with non-wage income
• Currently implemented in 19 states and numerous cities
• Studies show these protections increase voucher utilization rates by 4-12%

Rent Stabilization

Policies that limit rent increases to prevent economic displacement:

• Protect tenants from sudden, dramatic rent hikes that cause displacement
• Most effective when designed to allow reasonable returns for landlords while preventing predatory increases
• Often include provisions for capital improvements and hardship exceptions

Targeted Prevention for High-Risk Populations

Some groups face particularly high risks of homelessness and benefit from specialized prevention approaches:

Youth Aging Out of Foster Care

Young adults transitioning from foster care face high homelessness risks:

• Extended foster care: Programs that allow youth to remain in care until age 21 reduce homelessness by 40% compared to those exiting at 18
• Housing vouchers: The Family Unification Program (FUP) provides housing vouchers specifically for former foster youth
• Transition planning: Comprehensive planning that begins well before exit from care
• Life skills training: Programs that build financial literacy, tenant skills, and other independent living capabilities

People Exiting Institutions

Discharge planning and support for people leaving hospitals, jails, prisons, or treatment facilities:

• Critical Time Intervention (CTI): Time-limited case management during institutional transitions that has reduced homelessness by 61% among people with mental illness leaving institutions
• Transition housing: Dedicated housing options for people exiting institutions
• Pre-release planning: Housing plans developed before discharge or release
• Benefit enrollment: Ensuring access to income supports and healthcare before exit

Survivors of Domestic Violence

Specialized approaches for people fleeing unsafe home environments:

• Flexible financial assistance: Unrestricted funds that can be used for security deposits, relocation costs, or other needs
• Rapid re-housing: Programs specifically designed for survivors that include safety planning
• Housing protections: Laws that prevent eviction due to domestic violence and allow early lease termination for safety reasons
• Coordinated entry: Specialized assessment processes that address safety concerns

Veterans

Targeted prevention for those who have served in the military:

• Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF): Provides both prevention and rapid re-housing assistance
• Veterans Justice Outreach: Connects justice-involved veterans with housing and services
• VA healthcare coordination: Ensures veterans leaving VA medical facilities have housing plans

Older Adults

Prevention strategies for the growing population of seniors at risk:

• Home modification programs: Help seniors remain in their homes safely as mobility decreases
• Property tax relief: Programs that reduce tax burden for seniors on fixed incomes
• Shared housing: Programs that match seniors with compatible housemates to share costs
• In-home supportive services: Care that allows aging in place rather than institutionalization

Community-Based Prevention

Neighborhood-level approaches that strengthen housing stability:

Neighborhood Stabilization

Programs that address community-wide housing instability:

• Foreclosure prevention: Counseling and loan modification programs that keep homeowners housed
• Community land trusts: Nonprofit ownership of land to ensure permanent affordability
• Anti-displacement zones: Targeted investments in areas experiencing gentrification pressure

Coordinated Entry for Prevention

Systems that identify and assist at-risk households:

• Centralized access points for prevention resources
• Standardized assessment of housing instability risk
• Prioritization frameworks that target limited resources to those most likely to become homeless without assistance
• Data sharing across systems to identify at-risk households

Cross-System Collaboration

Partnerships between housing and other systems:

• School-based identification: Programs that identify and assist families of students experiencing housing instability
• Healthcare partnerships: Screening for housing instability in healthcare settings with direct connections to prevention resources
• Workforce development integration: Employment programs that include housing stability components

Upstream Prevention

Addressing root causes of housing instability through broader policy and system changes:

Affordable Housing Development

Expanding the supply of housing affordable to lower-income households:

• Inclusionary zoning policies that require affordable units in new developments
• Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) developments
• Public housing preservation and expansion
• Zoning reforms that allow greater housing density and variety

Income Supports

Programs that increase financial resources for housing:

• Expanded housing vouchers and rental subsidies
• Living wage policies and minimum wage increases
• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit expansions
• Universal basic income pilots

Healthcare Access

Preventing homelessness caused by health crises:

• Medicaid expansion to cover more low-income adults
• Medical debt protection policies
• Mental health and substance use disorder treatment access
• Paid sick leave to prevent job loss due to illness

Implementing Effective Prevention

Research has identified several key principles for effective prevention programs:

Targeting Resources Effectively

Identifying those most likely to become homeless without assistance:

• Using data-driven screening tools to assess risk factors
• Focusing on imminent housing loss (eviction notices, utility shutoffs)
• Considering history of homelessness as a strong predictor of future episodes
• Balancing targeting with accessibility to avoid excluding people in need

Providing Appropriate Intervention Intensity

Matching assistance to household needs:

• Light-touch assistance for households with temporary financial crises
• More intensive case management for those with multiple barriers
• Progressive engagement approaches that adjust assistance based on outcomes

Ensuring Quick and Flexible Response

Designing systems that can respond rapidly to housing crises:

• Streamlined application processes with minimal documentation requirements
• Same-day assistance for true emergencies
• Flexible funds that can address various housing-related needs
• Direct payments to landlords or utility companies when appropriate

Measuring Outcomes and Refining Approaches

Using data to improve prevention effectiveness:

• Tracking housing retention outcomes at 6, 12, and 24 months
• Monitoring returns for assistance to identify recurring issues
• Comparing outcomes across different prevention strategies
• Adjusting targeting criteria based on outcome data

Conclusion

Preventing homelessness is a critical component of any comprehensive strategy to address housing instability. The evidence shows that well-designed prevention programs can effectively keep people housed, avoiding the trauma and costs associated with homelessness.

The most successful prevention approaches combine financial assistance with supportive services, target resources to those at highest risk, respond quickly to housing emergencies, and address both immediate crises and underlying vulnerabilities. While no single prevention strategy works for everyone, communities with robust, multi-faceted prevention systems can significantly reduce the number of people entering homelessness.

As we work to end homelessness, investing in prevention must be a priority alongside efforts to house those already experiencing homelessness. By stopping homelessness before it begins, we can reduce human suffering, decrease system costs, and create more stable communities for everyone.

References & Further Reading

1. National Alliance to End Homelessness. "Emergency Rental Assistance: A Key Tool for Preventing Homelessness." NAEH, 2021. https://endhomelessness.org/resource/emergency-rental-assistance/
2. U.S. Department of the Treasury. "Emergency Rental Assistance Program." Treasury.gov, 2023. https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-state-local-and-tribal-governments/emergency-rental-assistance-program
3. Stout Risius Ross. "Cost of Homelessness Study: Supportive Housing Is the Solution." Economic Roundtable, 2017. https://economicrt.org/publication/where-we-sleep/
4. Evans, W.N., Sullivan, J.X., and Wallskog, M. "The Impact of Homelessness Prevention Programs on Homelessness." Science, vol. 353, no. 6300, 2016, pp. 694-699. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aag0833
5. Goodman, S., Messeri, P., and O'Flaherty, B. "Homelessness Prevention in New York City: On Average, It Works." Journal of Housing Economics, vol. 31, 2016, pp. 14-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhe.2015.12.001
6. Stoll, M.A. and Covington, K. "Eviction Diversion Programs: A Key Strategy for Preventing Homelessness." National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2022. https://endhomelessness.org/resource/eviction-diversion-programs/
7. Herman, D.B. et al. "Critical Time Intervention: An Empirically Supported Model for Preventing Homelessness in High Risk Groups." Journal of Primary Prevention, vol. 28, no. 3-4, 2007, pp. 295-312. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-007-0099-3
8. Shinn, M. et al. "Efficient Targeting of Homelessness Prevention Services for Families." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 103, no. S2, 2013, pp. S324-S330. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301468
9. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. "Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program." VA.gov, 2023. https://www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf/