Becoming homeless is not only traumatic and destabilizing for people in need, but also expensive for taxpayers. With some exceptions – notably, cases of domestic violence – people most likely to become homeless must be helped to remain in their housing through rent subsidies or other assistance. Preventing homelessness is crucial, both to reduce the high cost of providing crisis care and to eliminate the disruption that results when people become homeless. Prevention is particularly important as a means of keeping families together and protecting children.
Homeless people tend to come from high-poverty neighborhoods near downtown. Many homeless people from these neighborhoods face a variety of challenges that often include histories of domestic abuse, child abuse, or drug or alcohol abuse. The Blueprint to End Homelessness calls for establishing homeless prevention programs in these and other targeted neighborhoods to identify people most vulnerable to becoming homeless and work to keep them from falling into homelessness.
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