The challenge
Houston had one of the largest homeless populations in the US and a fragmented system of providers.
The case
From 2011, Houston's Coalition for the Homeless brought the city, county, housing authority and more than 100 service providers into a single coordinated system. Everyone used one shared database and one assessment, and people were matched directly to apartments with support, rather than waiting in shelters. Annual point-in-time counts show homelessness in the Houston region fell by about 61% between 2011 and 2023, while it rose in many US cities.
Why it worked
Getting competing agencies to share data and follow one process mattered as much as funding. Houston's relatively cheap rental market also made it easier to find apartments.
Sources
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