Complex problems like homelessness do not have a set of technical instructions; instead, their solutions lie with leaders’ ability to learn and adapt. This requires localized systems planning and homelessness strategy that can connect systems of care as well as ensure that all organizations and departments addressing homelessness are working together.

Factors leading to homelessness vary by location and even across time, as economic and political realities change. But broadly speaking, planning ought to seek to identify what works under what conditions and for whom; give leaders a structure to try and revise effective strategies, and a way of knowing what is working and where changes must be made; and include means to measure progress toward set targets.