The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) released the first federal homelessness prevention framework, a guide for local governments, nonprofits, funders, advocates, and others.
The framework—which was informed by people who have experienced homelessness—was developed with multiple federal agencies and formally adopted by USICH leaders.
“We end homelessness every day for thousands of people. But for every person housed, more lose their home,” said USICH director Jeff Olivet. “To make progress toward ending homelessness as we know it, we must close this revolving door and stop homelessness before it starts. To do that, USICH urges communities to work together across systems and sectors, using this prevention framework and our new homelessness prevention spotlight series, to keep people from ever experiencing the trauma of living without a home.”
The framework:
- Details steps for developing a communitywide, cross-system approach to homelessness prevention;
- Defines categories of homelessness prevention;
- Shares promising practices for homelessness prevention programs; and
- Lists federal resources that can be used for homelessness prevention.
In addition, USICH published its first spotlight in a blog series on specific methods of homelessness prevention—such as guaranteed basic income and eviction prevention—with a focus on specific populations (youth, families, older adults, and people involved in the justice system). To inform the spotlights, USICH collected emerging best practices from communities that are working to prevent homelessness. The first spotlight is on youth homelessness.
Visit usich.gov/prevention to read the framework and blog series.