Team Connected Blog | Four Solutions to Houselessness | But Do the Houseless Know?
Team Connected Blog | Four Solutions to Houselessness | But Do the Houseless Know About Them? | Is There “Public Data” to Support Successes and Failures?
This is a follow-up to a blog post on August 19, 2025:
In the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, houselessness has been in the news in the last six months. Following the recent articles and Letters to the Editor in the Laconia Daily Sun, mayoral and councilman campaigns for elections in November 2025 are all mentioning, or commenting at length, on houselessness in our communities. Houselessness is newsworthy topic locally and nationally; and, it is a high priority for some candidates as well as the general public.. Numerous graphics are provided below from “sharable graphics” Training Resources (© 2025 National Alliance to Homelessness, All Rights Reserved. ) and created by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. LINKS to each of the four programs summarized in this post appear beneath each.
The Pressure Points resource series detailing Four Housing and Urban Development (HUD) existing programs (below) have been described in detail by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. That series is a one-of-kind excellent and FREE resource base. It helps readers navigate through a never-ending stream of acronyms, titles, and abbreviations which are frequently used by houselessness advocates and stakeholders, but rarely defined in an understandable manner by the general public.
The Alliance is intended to highlight key, continuously evolving strategies and practices for ending homelessness, and provide guidance and clarity to help communities execute them more effectively. The following video was recently produced by the Homeless Research Institute of the Alliance March 2, 2025 and can be viewed at the convenience of readers. After a brief series of comments on criminalization of houselessness, a panel of experts including Luis Ulerio, Carolyn Ross, Kenzie Strubank, and Claire Herbert discuss evidence-based tactics to help communities end unsheltered. The author of this blog post respectfully submits the Lakes Region is one such community and offers sincere thanks to the Alliance for their dedication and comprehensive research.
Four Existing Solutions to Houselessness and those “One Paycheck Away” from that circumstance.
YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@endinghomelessness?feature=shared
Four Solutions to Houselessness
One: Shared Housing
LINK: https://endhomelessness.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Shared-Housing-Fact-Sheet_Feb-2022.pdf
Two: Housing First
https://endhomelessness.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Housing-First-Fact-Sheet_Aug-2022.pdf
Three: Progressive Engagement
There are three core components to Rapid Re-Housing. While a program must make all three available, it is not required that a single entity provide all three services or that a household utilize them all.
CORE COMPONENT #1: Housing Identification
The goal of housing identification is to find housing for people quickly. This can be a challenging task, especially in high-cost, low-vacancy markets. Programs should recruit landlords continuously, even before you have people who need housing. The more partnerships you create now, the greater the opportunity you will have later to rapidly house those that need it.
Your Rapid Re-Housing program should designate housing identification staff members who can find and recruit landlords willing to rent to those served by your program.
And finally, match participants to appropriate housing. This is housing that is decent, safe, will be affordable after assistance ends. One critical aspect of this step is choice: make sure the individual or household has a choice in their housing.
CORE COMPONENT #2: Rent and Move-In Assistance
The goal of rent and move-in assistance is to help with the costs associated with getting into housing. The amount and duration of this assistance varies, but at a minimum, it should be enough to help people secure a place to live.This assistance shouldn’t be a standard “package” but flexible in order to meet unique needs. This is particularly important when financial circumstances or housing costs change.
CORE COMPONENT #3: Case Management
The goal of Rapid Re-Housing case management is to help stabilize people once housed, by connecting them to services and supports if needed. It should focus on helping people navigate barriers that may stand in the way of securing and maintaining housing, and should also strive to build a support system by connecting them with people and programs in the community.
Rapid Re-Housing assistance should end and the case closed when the individual or family is no longer facing the threat of homelessness, but case management may continue if appropriate or requested.
Models of case management for Rapid Re-Housing include Critical Time Intervention (CTI). CTI and Rapid Re-Housing are complimentary interventions and CTI is well-suited as a case management model in support of Rapid Re-Housing with individuals and families experiencing homelessness. CTI for Rapid Re-Housing is a time limited evidence-based practice that mobilizes support for vulnerable households during periods of transition.
https://endhomelessness.org/resources/toolkits-and-training-materials/rapid-re-housing-works/
