Housing the Homeless Through Expanding Access to Existing Housing Subsidies

Authors

Barbara Sard, Harvard University

Abstract

The premise of this article is that homelessness in America today is essentially a product of the lack of affordable housing for very low-income people. The article outlines this central income/housing gap analysis as the factual predicate of the goal to alleviate homelessness through securing subsidized housing resources for the homeless and imminently homeless. It explains why, based on the nature and number of annually available housing subsidies, expanding access to existing housing subsidies is a valuable, workable, short-term, at least partial solution to the immediate crisis of lack of affordable housing, albeit one which does not negate the acknowledged necessity of increasing the supply of such subsidies. It suggests six strategies legal advocates may pursue to expand access for the homeless to the existing housing subsidy resources in their community. Finally, questions are raised about the value of this approach, in contrast to a focus solely on increasing the overall supply of income or housing subsidies, for which space permits only limited and tentative answers.

Recommended Citation

Sard, Barbara (1992) "Housing the Homeless Through Expanding Access to Existing Housing Subsidies," New England Journal of Public Policy: Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 15.
Available at: https://scholarworks.umb.edu/nejpp/vol8/iss1/15