Homelessness is in the news again as communities across Missouri conduct a one-day “point-in-time count,” a brief snapshot of individuals experiencing homelessness throughout our state. While it is too early to know the trends for all of Missouri, it is clear from initial reports that many Missourians are still struggling with homelessness. The most effective approach to reducing homelessness based on decades of research is an approach called Housing First, a common-sense hospitable approach to housing, providing homes for individuals without asking them to jump through hoops to get there. Evidence from a systematic review of 26 studies indicates that Housing First programs decreased homelessness by 88% and improved housing stability by 41%, compared to Treatment First programs.
Empower Missouri has written extensively on the benefits of providing alojamiento first, before requiring individuals to meet certain requirements in order to obtain them and our narrative remains the same: People are not numbers. We are human beings with feelings, needs, desires, dreams and emotions. We are driven to survive and thrive in community and deserve basic human rights like shelter, food, warmth, interaction, and enjoyment. Housing First works because it addresses an immediate basic need – shelter – first.
Housing First has received bipartisan support over the past decade, with members from both parties attesting to the reduction of homelessness in their communities through the implementation of Housing First. In addition to the evidence being clear for Housing First success in the US, it is a globally recognized practice, with multiple pieces of research showing that Housing First is the most effective approach to preventing and ending homelessness:
- Housing First, Consumer Choice, and Harm Reduction for Homeless Individuals With a Dual Diagnosis
- Impact of supportive housing on substance use–related health care utilization among homeless persons who are active substance users
- Housing First works: Report sheds light on program to end homelessness
- Homelessness, housing instability and mental health: making the connections
- The Evidence is Clear: Housing First Effectively Ends Homelessness
- Housing First protects our children.
- El Vanleer Foundation reports that a child’s emotional regulation, behavior, and their capacity for lifelong learning forms within the first five years of their life, going further to state, “The physical environment in which children grow up deeply shapes their development and potential.”
- The Center for Public Integrity (see chart below) reports that in 18 states, graduation rates for students who experienced homelessness lagged more than 20 percentage points behind the overall rate in both 2017 and 2018.
Chart: Amy DiPierro, Center for Public Integrity Source: U.S. Department of Education, Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate, 2018-19 Created with Datawrapper
- Housing First protects our vulnerable populations.
- Its flexible approach and responsive nature helps prevent homelessness for veterans, youth exiting foster care, our aging adults and the chronically ill who may be experiencing a temporary personal, health or financial crisis.
- Housing First promotes racial equity, welcoming individuals of all cultures, ages and genders.
The Myths that Motivate a Handcuffs First Approach
Recently the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) tried to force local homelessness prevention programs away from a Housing First approach. This is consistent with the Trump Administration Executive Order that centralized criminal penalties as the best tool to address homelessness. This “Handcuffs First” approach is based on a misunderstanding of the people experiencing homelessness; in fact, our unsheltered neighbors are often the recipients of unwanted behavior, not the culprits. A few key points:
- Unhoused individuals are more likely to be the victims of crime and housed people are often the perpetrators.
- Individuals experiencing homelessness are less likely to commit violent crimes, but more likely to be charged with survival or lifestyle crimes such as squatting, soliciting, and noise complaints.
- Our unsheltered neighbors experience double the rate of death due to hate crimes than any other group based on religion, race, or disability.
Nationwide, the annual Point-In-Time count reported that:
- more than 771,480 people experienced homelessness on a single night in 2024
- 7,312 of those individuals were our Missouri neighbors
- and 513 were Veterans
This should not be the case in one of the wealthiest nations on the planet. A lack of affordable housing paired with household incomes that haven’t kept up with current inflation rates are the primary causes of increased poverty and this combination paired with our nation’s housing crisis is leading to more and more of our loved ones and neighbors experiencing homelessness.
If we want to solve the housing crisis and prevent homelessness, we have to provide safe spaces where humans are able to exist in peace and feel like a part of society. “Housing is a human right, and bold solutions – including universal rental assistance, preservation and expansion of public housing, investments in the national Housing Trust Fund, and robust and enforced tenant protections – are necessary to end homelessness,” stated NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel.
Shelter, sleep, access to clean water, warmth and food are basic necessities, not reasons to criminalize. Housing First has been shown to result in improved medical and behavioral health, reduced criminal justice involvement, lower rates of substance use, and better educational outcomes.
When we put Housing First, we not only help our neighbors who might be experiencing a difficult phase of their lives, but we also invest in our local economies.
Even though we’re in a housing crisis, our situation is still repairable. Investing in the construction and rehabilitation of safe and affordable housing provides economic benefits for our communities as a whole. We must focus first on prevention and maintenance, facing our alojamiento crisis with preparedness and an evidence-based solution for how to solve it.
That solution is Housing First.
Spanish 
English