Working Paper: NBER ID: w26232
Authors: William N. Evans; David C. Philips; Krista J. Ruffini
Abstract: Homelessness may be both a cause of and one of the more extreme outcomes of poverty. Governments at all levels have a variety of tools to combat homelessness, and these strategies have changed dramatically over the past quarter century. In this paper, we catalog the policy responses, the existing literature on the effectiveness of these strategies, and the major gaps that need to be addressed in future research. We focus on studies from randomized controlled trial evaluations and the best quasi-experimental designs, and discuss outstanding questions that can be addressed with these same methods.
Keywords: homelessness; housing policy; poverty; randomized controlled trials
JEL Codes: H53; I38; R21
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Access to prevention services (I14) | Reduction in shelter entries (R28) |
| Access to emergency financial assistance (H84) | Reduction in shelter entry rates (R28) |
| Access to emergency financial assistance (H84) | Reduction in average time spent in shelters (I32) |
| Critical Time Intervention (CTI) (C24) | Likelihood of experiencing homelessness after 18 months (R21) |
| Providing full legal services (L84) | Increased court appearances (K40) |
| Providing full legal services (L84) | Reduced unfavorable decisions (D91) |
| Providing full legal services (L84) | Reduced eviction warrants (R21) |