Homelessness
Abt’s rigorous research, insights and technical assistance enable policymakers and practitioners to understand the scope of homelessness in America and identify what works to prevent and reduce it. Our team partners with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to produce national estimates of homelessness. With federal, state, and non-profit clients, we also examine the disparate effects of homelessness across races, ethnicities, ages, and abilities, including on military veterans, families, and youth. We help federal grantees, communities and nonprofits build capacity to manage prevention and assistance programs to move people from the streets into stable housing. And we partner with those same communities, as well as people with lived experience, to design scalable, equitable systems that meet their needs and preferences.
Expertise
- Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)
- Research and Program Evaluation
- Equity and Lived Experience Focus
- Local, State and Federal Policies
- Data Capture, Analytics, and Visualization
Clients Include
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Family and Youth Services Bureau
Veterans Affairs
State of Colorado Department of Local Affairs
California Department of Social Services
United Way of Massachusetts Bay
Washington State Department of Commerce
Hilton Foundation
Our Work
Since 2007, data collection, analysis and reporting to produce the nation’s estimates of sheltered and unsheltered homelessness to the U.S. Congress
Best practices for emergency housing for populations with complex needs drawn from our evaluation of California’s Project Roomkey
Study on homeless encampments and costs and potential cost offsets for federal, state and local policymakers and practitioners to address them
Findings that long-term housing subsidies prevent family homelessness and reduce food insecurity, schooling instability, and domestic partner violence
Coordinated community strategies to address root causes of youth homelessness, resulting in $36.4 million in grantee funding for youth services
Data analysis and visualization tools for HUD and hundreds of local partners to assess their homeless services and generate recommendations
Our Experts
Insights
Addressing Soaring Homelessness in America Among Senior Citizens. What Can Reverse the Trend?
Experts from Abt and Miriam’s Kitchen highlight the soaring number of older adults experiencing homelessness and discuss how to tackle the crisis.
Using Tenant-based Housing Vouchers to Help End Homelessness in Los Angeles
Abt’s study found that people experiencing homelessness in LA County are more successful than other households at using a tenant-based federal housing voucher.
L.A.’s Approach to Homelessness & Vouchers Shows Promise, According to Abt, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Study
Abt’s study found that people experiencing homelessness in LA County are more successful than other households at using a tenant-based federal housing voucher.
How Do TANF Policies Support Families Experiencing Homelessness?
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a key component in supporting self-sufficiency among families, including those experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children…
The Homeless Families Research Briefs: Combatting Homelessness with Data
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plays a key role in connecting homeless families to benefits, employment and other services needed to help them find housing and work toward self-sufficiency. The Homeless Families Research Briefs…
Studying the Transitional Living Program for Homeless Youth
Administered by the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), the Transitional Living Program (TLP) and Maternity Group Home (MGH) grants enable organizations to provide supervised shelter, case management, and support…
Redesigning the Runaway and Homeless Youth-Homeless Management Information System
The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) is required by Congress to develop and deploy a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for its Runaway & Homeless Youth Program (RHY). The agency wants to ensure it collects high data quality—and…
Implementing Equity in Projects: Developing a System to Remake the System
This podcast discusses Abt’s approach to dismantling systemic inequities, and how we’re implementing it in HUD’s annual report to Congress on homelessness.
Homelessness & Public Health: How Can We Close the Gap?
Abt’s Natalie Matthews and Terri Mota connect the dots between homelessness and public health and discuss how we can do more moving forward in this podcast.