Many people think they know about the lives of people experiencing homelessness, but those perceptions are often based on anecdote. Margot Kushel, MD joins us to talk about her work on the largest representative study of homelessness since the 1990s, and what it says about who experiences homelessness, why they become homeless, their experiences while living without housing, and barriers to re-entering stable housing.

Show notes:

• Kushel, M., & Moore, T. (2023). Towards a New Understanding: The California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness. University of California, San Francisco Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.
• Colburn, G. (2023). Episode 61: Homelessness is a Housing Problem with Gregg Colburn (Pathways Home pt. 1), Housing Voice Podcast, UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies.
• Khadduri, J. & Shinn, M. (2020). In the Midst of Plenty: Homelessness and What to Do About It. Wiley-Blackwell.
• Hahn, J. A., Kushel, M. B., Bangsberg, D. R., Riley, E., & Moss, A. R. (2006). Brief report: The aging of the homeless population: Fourteen-year trends in San Francisco. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21(7), 775–778. 
• Schaeffer, K. (2022, March 23). Key facts about housing affordability in the U.S. Pew Research Center. 
• Executive summary of the Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness.
• More reading about Los Angeles’s efforts to accelerate housing placements for people experiencing homelessness.