Research

The Leadership Committee of the National Racial Equity Working Group published A Brief History of Race and Homelessness in America, which lays out the history of the connections between race and homelessness in the United States and is intended to inform the work ahead in pursuit of racial equity.

Through an ambitious mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) study, the Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities initiative at C4 Innovations documented high rates of homelessness among people of color and began to map their pathways into and barriers to exit from homelessness. The team analyzed 111,563 individual records of people from HMIS (homeless management information systems) in SPARC partner communities (representing data aggregated across years 2013-2015); administered a provider workforce demographic survey; collected 148 oral histories of people of color experiencing homelessness; and conducted 18 focus groups in six communities across the United States.

Through an ambitious mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) study, the Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities initiative at C4 Innovations documented high rates of homelessness among people of color and began to map their pathways into and barriers to exit from homelessness. The team analyzed 111,563 individual records of people from HMIS (homeless management information systems) in SPARC partner communities (representing data aggregated across years 2013-2015); administered a provider workforce demographic survey; collected 148 oral histories of people of color experiencing homelessness; and conducted 18 focus groups in six communities across the United States.

In partnership with Building Changes and four CoCs, C4 Innovations conducted the Racial Equity Analysis of Assessment Data, designed to examine the potential for CES assessments to perpetuate racial inequities. Their analysis was guided by two overarching research questions:

1) According to CES assessment data, are White people more likely to be prioritized for permanent housing compared to BIPOC? and,

2) Which subscales of the VI-SPDAT predict vulnerability, and thus housing needs, across racial groups? Further, are there methods or proxy variables that can be transformed to result in more equitable prioritization?

In this article, Earl James Edwards reviews the history of homelessness as a racialized problem in the United States. He assesses its disproportionate impact on Black Americans is primarily driven by structural racism and the limited housing and employment opportunities for Black Americans. This article unpacks and evaluates the failure of colorblind policy and public messaging on efforts to prevent and end homelessness.

The National racial Equity Working Group’s Working Group’s Antiracist Research and Data Team created a library of resources that can support research and data utilization towards ending homelessness and advancing racial equity. Currently, resources are organized into the following categories, with room to grow: understanding systemic racism, engaging persons with lived experience, data tools and resources, and examples of community assessments. The intended audience includes researchers, evaluators, and data collectors, managers, and analysts at various stages in their journeys. We hope these resources can help support work that is racially-explicit, equity driven, and involves authentic and meaningful participation of affected and marginalized communities.