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Homelessness is a global challenge.

The United Nations Human Settlements Program estimates that 1.1 billion people live in inadequate housing, and the best data available suggest that more than 100 million people have no housing at all.

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Missed Opportunities: Pregnant and Parenting Youth Experiencing Homelessness in America
This Research-to-Impact brief is the third in a series that draws on multiple research components from Voices of Youth Count. Adolescence and young adulthood represent a critical developmental window. Every day that young people experience the stress of housing instability represents a missed opportunity to support their healthy development and promote successful transitions to adulthood. Throughout this brief, Voices of...
Dignity and Social Inclusion: Civil society’s role in social protection for homeless
Katy Sherratt
This source discusses the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in solving homelessness. Within the context of the U.S., this source outlines key strategies CSOs should employ, such as promoting social inclusion and supporting education, employment, and housing.
Different Paths to Collaboration Between Businesses and Civil Society and the Role of Third Parties
Daniel Arenas
Matthew Murphy
Pablo Sanchez
In this article, we suggest that one of the unexplored paths toward collaboration between firms and civil society organizations starts with confrontation or potential conflict, and that the transition toward collaboration can be further understood if one focuses on triadic relationships rather than dyadic ones. We analyze the presence of third parties and their different roles to explain how collaboration is facilitated. The...
Homelessness Research: Shaping Policy and Practice, Now and Into the Future
Mark Johnston
This source discusses progress in homelessness research, policy, and programming in the U.S. The authors cite the HUD-VASH program and Housing First programs as best practice. Also, this discussion focuses on issues of health and health care within the context of homelessness and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 
Exploring State–Civil Society Collaboration: Policy Partnerships in Developing Countries
Derick Brinkerhoff
This article examines state–civil society partnerships for policy implementation, focusing on the basic factors partnerships need to deal with to be effective. These include specification of objectives and degree of convergence, mechanisms for combining effort and managing cooperation, determination of appropriate roles and responsibilities, and capacity to fulfill those roles and responsibilities. Four cases are presented,...
State-Civil Society Partnerships For Policy Advocacy And Implementation In Developing Countries
Derick Brinkerhoff
The focus of this paper is on the partnership mode of interaction between the public sector and the private and non-governmental sectors. The paper examines cases of policy implementation where governments and civil society groups/NGOs are jointly involved, and offers some preliminary lessons relating to: situational variables that constrain/facilitate state-civil partnerships, mechanisms that support collaboration, and the...
Trauma and Homelessness Initiative: Research Findings
Meaghan O'Donnell
Tracy Varker
Richard Cash
Renee Armstrong
Louisa Di Censo
Paul Zanatta
Alan Murnane
Lisa Brophy
and Andrea Phelps
The importance of understanding the impact of trauma is increasingly recognised amongst services working with people who experience homelessness. This is particularly the case for those who experience long-term homelessness, or those at risk for experiencing long-term homelessness. The ultimate goal of the Trauma and Homelessness Initiative (THI) is to investigate the relationship between trauma and long-term homelessness and...
Tackling homelessness and exclusion: Understanding complex lives
Theresa McDonagh
For some people, homelessness is not just a housing issue but something that is inextricably linked with complex and chaotic life experiences. Mental health problems, drug and alcohol dependencies, street culture activities and institutional experiences (such as prison and the care system) are often closely linked with the more extreme experiences of homelessness. This Round-up looks at evidence collected as part of the...
Complex needs: Homelessness services in the Housing Options East Hub
Manual Macias
Scotland is widely regarded as having some of the most progressive homelessness legislation and practice in the world. Since 2012, every unintentionally homeless person has the right to a permanent home, and to temporary accommodation, advice and housing support while a permanent home is found. These rights and a new focus on prevention of homelessness through the housing options approach has transformed the response to...
Homelessness and Malnutrition
Hans Wolff
This research summary discusses the link between homelessness and malnutrition in Prague. According to this article, only a small proportion of homeless people were found to have indicators of long-term starvation. Yet, these results are surprising as alcoholism, a common cause of malnutrition was frequent and almost half of homeless people in this study indicated involuntary weight loss. As such, the authors argue that this...
Nutrition and the homeless: the underestimated challenge
J.V. Seale
R. Fallaize
J. A. Lovegrove
Homelessness is present in most societies and represents a situation in which the basic needs for survival including food are often limited. It is logical to surmise that the homeless person’s diet is likely to be nutritionally deficient and yet there is a relative paucity in research regarding this issue with studies varying in both their methodology and homeless population. Despite these differences, diets of the homeless...
Hardiness and homelessness: A strengths-based perspective of service use by veterans who are homeless
James C. Petrovich
The purpose of this study was to expand the current knowledge base regarding the use of assistance services by veterans who are homeless. Informed by existing gaps in the scientific literature, it recruited a systematic sample from a low-demand urban shelter and applied a strengths-based perspective by evaluating whether the personality construct of hardiness predicted utilization of assistance services. It also utilized a...
Prevalence and Risk Factors for Inhalant and Other Substance Use Among Street Boys in Kisumu, Kenya
Colette Auerswald
Ariella Sara Goldblatt
Zachary A. Kwena
Jessica Lin
Kawango Agot
Elizabeth Anne Bukusi
Street children and youth are at increased risk for substance use, particularly inhalant use. Due in part to their marginalized status, there are sparse quantitative data available about the prevalence and risk factors for substance use of street children and youth in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of substance use among street children in Kisumu, Kenya and their correlation with...
Homelessness, Empowerment and Self-reliance in Scotland and Ireland: The Impact of Legal Rights to Housing for Homeless People
Beth Watts
This paper explores the impact of legal rights to housing for people experiencing homelessness, focusing on the capacity of such rights to ‘empower’ those experiencing homelessness. The paper draws on a qualitative comparison of approaches to homelessness in Scotland and Ireland. Whereas in Scotland virtually all those who are homeless now have a legal right to settled accommodation, Ireland has rejected such a ‘legalistic’...
Stigma and Prejudice Against Individuals Experiencing Homelessness
Denise De Las Nueces
This chapter will review the scope of anti-homeless stigma in society today, first by defining homelessness and then by examining the roots of anti-homeless sentiments through a review of the history of homelessness in the United States. The current manifestations of anti-homeless stigma as reflected in today’s local legislation, violence against the homeless population, and health care disparities will also be examined....
Women's Land Rights as a Pathway to Poverty Reduction: Framework and Review of Available Evidence
Ruth Meinzen-Dick
Cheryl Doss
Sophie Theis
Agnes Quisumbing
This paper reviews the literature on women’s land rights (WLR) and poverty reduction. It uses the Gender, Agriculture and Assets Project (GAAP) conceptual framework to identify pathways by which WLR could reduce poverty and increase wellbeing of women and their households in rural areas.  Researchers found that evidence is strong for relationships between WLR and bargaining power and decision-making on consumption, human...
Public Hearing on Violence against Homeless Women in Delhi
Homeless women in Delhi face acts of violence on a daily basis, including verbal, physical and sexual abuse, and economic and social exploitation, which severely affects their mental and physical health. The media, however, seldom report such atrocities and public authorities generally ignore their complaints. The affected women have no recourse to legal remedy, aid or redress, and their plight seems to be unheard. In order...
Housing and Land Rights Network: India Homelessness Resources
Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), based in New Delhi, India, works for the recognition, defence, promotion, and realization of the human rights to adequate housing and land, which involve gaining a safe and secure place for all individuals and communities, especially marginalized communities, to live in peace and dignity. HLRN is an independent organization and works on research, education, and advocacy related to...
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Data Reports
The Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) is a HUD report to the U.S. Congress that provides nationwide estimates of homelessness, including information about the demographic characteristics of homeless persons, service use patterns, and the capacity to house homeless persons. The report is based primarily on Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) data about persons who experience homelessness during a 12-month...
OECD: Affordable Housing Database
Access to good-quality affordable housing is a fundamental need and key to achieving a number of social policy objectives, including reducing poverty and enhancing equality of opportunity, social inclusion and mobility. Housing needs are frequently unmet, and today a significant number of people across the OECD are homeless and too many households live in low-quality dwellings or face housing costs they can ill afford. The...