Reforming the System of Care: A Review of the Literature on Housing and Service Arrangements for Homeless Populations
Reforming the system of care for homeless and precariously housed individuals and families
is a central objective of Washtenaw County’s Blueprint to End Homelessness. This objective
recognizes that improved understanding of the relationship between housing, services, and
housing stability for homeless people will help communities minimize entries into the housing assistance network and increase the number of successful transitions out of homelessness and into stable housing. In collaboration with Washtenaw County, Michigan, the Washtenaw Housing Alliance, and local service providers, researchers at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan have developed a series of evaluation tools and policy reports to help the community evaluate and reform the system of care for homeless persons in Washtenaw County. This report offers a review of recent academic and applied research on the relationship between housing and service arrangements and housing stability for homeless, formerly homeless, and precariously housed individuals and families.