STRONGER SOCIAL FABRIC
Network
Leadership
NETWORK CO-LEADS
Benjamin Henwood, PhD
Associate Professor
University of Southern California
bhenwood@usc.edu
Deborah Padgett, PhD
Professor
New York University
deborah.padgett@nyu.edu
LOOKING BACK
Over the past five years, End Homelessness Grand Challenge network members
and their colleagues have:
• Advocated for Maryland's Ending Youth
Homelessness Act, which creates a grant
program to fund housing and supportive
services for unaccompanied homeless youth
and those at risk of homelessness and against
HUD's Making Affordable Housing Work Act
• Compiled a series of essays on homelessness
by policy experts. Published in advance of
the 2020 election to inform candidates of
possible solutions to the U.S. housing crisis,
the authors call for:
1. Expanding investment in affordable
housing
2. Supporting rapid re-housing and timelimited rental assistance
3. Shifting funds from transitional
emergency programs to rental vouchers
and permanent supportive housing
4. Designing homeless services around
the principles of Housing First
• Published a chapter, "Homelessness in Los
Angeles and New York City: A Tale of Two
Cities," and a book, "Housing First: Ending
Homelessness, Transforming Systems and
Changing Lives"
• Presented widely on the subject, including
at the University of Denver's Science for Action
series, where Benjamin Henwood delivered
the keynote address, "Shouldn't Ending
Homelessness be the Easy Part?" and at the
National Symposium on Solutions to End
Youth Homelessness, where Deborah Padgett
led a session on "Implementing Community
Driven Research and Evaluation in Youth
Programs"
• Testified in lawsuits aiming to improve
homeless services and reduce police
harassment in Miami, Los Angeles, and
Washington, DC
• Developed a curricular guide for teachers
and students of social work around ending
homelessness with the National Center
for Excellence in Homeless Services and the
Council on Social Work Education
• Conducted a research survey with the
National Center for Excellence in Homeless
Services to identify ongoing research
and interested faculty, and to connect
researchers across institutions
• Spoken out against myths of homelessness
surrounding crime, substance use, and
service resistance in such outlets as Radio
Health Journal and The New York Times
• Contributed to a special edition of the
Journal of Social Work Education, featuring
13 articles on how various social work
programs are updating their pedagogy in line
with the movement to end homelessness
• Participated in the Los Angeles Homeless
Count, which directed $110 million in HUD
funding to the county in 2018
• Responded to COVID -19 by commenting on
and researching the implications of the
pandemic for homelessness and the housing
crisis more generally
LOOKING AHEAD
Over the next five years, network members are committed to continuing to advocate
for the recommendations outlined in the original policy brief and expanded upon in
End Homelessness: Policy Proposals for the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, including:
• Expand access to housing subsidies, including Housing Choice Vouchers
• Ensure that evidence-based psychosocial interventions accompany housing assistance
• Develop and evaluate housing-led interventions for specific populations including youth,
older people, and veterans
An Impact Report at Year 5 of the 10-Year Initiative | 21