Report: Public perceptions of homelessness don’t accurately capture the challenges cities face

Contrary to public perception, the overall trend of homelessness nationally over the last decade is geographically uneven. While homelessness has increased, some regions have reduced their populations of unhoused people, according to a new report published this month by the Brookings Institution.

“In New York and Philadelphia, for instance, most homeless people are not unsheltered, but rather reside in temporary shelter or transitional housing (94% and 82%, respectively). In Chicago, most of the homeless population resides in either emergency shelter (46%) or transitional housing (20%), with 33% living unsheltered,” reads a brief about the report, “Homelessness in U.S. cities and downtowns: The perception, the reality, and how to address both.” “Seattle is the stark outlier in the sample: Over 57% of its homeless population is living without shelter. These variations matter because a city like Seattle that is struggling with over half of its homeless population living unsheltered will require a different set of policies than a city like New York, whose ‘right to shelter’ mandate has helped secure temporary shelter for most people experiencing homelessness.”

For the study, researchers surveyed workers, visitors and employers in four of the largest U.S. cities and then compared their perceptions to data. Across the board, respondents perceived “significant increases” in the number of unhoused people in public spaces and in public disorder. Respondents “overwhelmingly conveyed a strong sense that homelessness was linked to criminality.”

These false perceptions have brought increasing political pressure on local leaders, and has caused many to enact punitive stopgap measures like encampment sweeps, which research has proven to be ineffective in reducing homeless populations. The perceptions also doesn’t accurately capture the complex challenges that cities face. The most visible form of homelessness—unsheltered people living in public places like parks, subway stations or street corners—represents only one-third of the total homeless population in most cities, the report says.

“A rare bipartisan consensus is emerging in many U.S. cities on one key issue: the need to address homelessness, particularly in downtown central business districts,” the brief reads. “Many on both the right and the left are calling for strategies such as encampment sweeps, increased enforcement of quality-of-life offenses, and even scaling back federal dollars for evidence-based ‘housing first’ policies to quell rising fears of public disorder, homelessness, and crime in ‘hollowed out’ downtowns.”

Rather than these short-term and ultimately inneffective solutions, researchers argue that American lawmakers need to craft forward-looking policies that consider the individual needs of each region, addressing the root causes of homelessness instead of just the visible elements.

Geography also has a lot to do with it. Cities on the West Coast represent seven of the 10 cities with the highest total homelessness rates per capita. San Francisco, for example, has a total homelessness rate that is nearly 20 times higher than Houston’s, the report continues. Differences in boundaries of the local or regional homelessness planning coalitions that coordinate housing and social services add an additional layer of complexity. 

“Taken together, our analysis and existing evidence indicate that perceptions alone are insufficient to inform local decision making on homelessness, and that a clear understanding of data, regional market variations, and local service delivery ecosystems is necessary to craft effective policy,” the report says.

The report outlines five policy redcommendtations as a starting framework for local leaders to work within. First, ensure the local housing policy is designed to move people off the streets. Inadequate affordable housing is intrinsically linked with homelessness. Removing barriers to affordability—such as single family-only construction, parking minimums and parcel shape regulations—are a few actions that have proven to be effective. 

Local governments should use alternative response models built around supporting people with substance abuse and behavioral health challenges when interacting with homeless people. Housing and employment support for those reentering society from incarceration should also be considered. 

More broadly, organizations like downtown associations can leverage influence and funding to address the issue, particularly in central business districts. And in all things, data should be forefront. 

“There is growing consensus among homelessness service providers and city and regional officials that no one institution, organization, funding source, or level of government can solve homelessness alone,” the report says. “To respond to the structural challenges that prevent people across a region—not just within city boundaries—from accessing affordable housing, there is a movement to establish regional homelessness authorities that correspond to merged, regional continuums of care and align resources and service delivery programs across a region.”

To review the complete report, visit the Brookings Institution’s website.