Research

Housing First as an Alternative to Criminalization: Preliminary Findings from Interviews with Unhoused and Formerly Unhoused People in Miami-Dade County

Since the fall of 2023, federal funding to the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust has supported more housing vouchers that subsidize rents, increased street outreach and long-term case management, and provided technical assistance to address unsheltered homelessness. It has enabled social service providers to implement a coordinated housing-first approach that emphasizes rapid placement in housing and connection with supportive services. This contrasts with a status quo approach that, due to a scarcity of housing, relies on long shelter stays and exposes people to criminalization of unsheltered homelessness. Drawing on interviews with 20 individuals who have recently been unsheltered in Miami-Dade County, this report compares experiences of the two approaches. The findings call for more investment in the housing-first approach and less investment in policies that advance criminalization and coercing people into shelters with poor conditions.

Click HERE to read or download the report

Portland State University’s Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative (PSU-HRAC) is working with Oregon Housing and Community Services to evaluate the alternative emergency shelter model called Project Turnkey. This model utilized motels for temporary shelter across the state of Oregon during the Covid-19 pandemic. Three main populations occupied the motels: 1) people experiencing homelessness at the start of the pandemic; 2) people who became homeless as a result of wildfires; and, 3) people in hospitals that needed to be moved.