New Report: Homeless, but Able and Willing to Work

NEW YORK, NY – As the U.S. economy continues to contend with a labor shortage, an untapped pool of workers remains underutilized—and desperately in need of work.  In a new report for the Manhattan Institute, Isabel McDevitt, co-founder of Work Works America, writes about people experiencing homelessness in America who are able and willing to work—and how federal policy neglects the employment-based solutions that could better serve them.

While much of the policy conversation surrounding homelessness focuses on chronically homeless populations in major coastal cities like New York and San Francisco, McDevitt explains that federal solutions fail to help the “middle third” of homeless Americans, those who are not chronically homeless but who also will not resolve their homelessness on their own without at least minimal formal assistance. In fact, more than 70 percent of adult individuals experiencing homelessness do not qualify for the types of programs that fall under the “Housing First” philosophy, which has dominated America’s policy response to homelessness for the past two decades.

Instead, these populations, found in midsized cities across the country, could benefit from what McDevitt calls the “Work Works” approach. Homing in on case studies from the Denver and Dallas metro areas, McDevitt explains how federal Housing First requirements have impeded efforts to innovate around more diverse solutions, and how local policymakers can integrate alternative approaches, including those that are community-based, and employment-oriented. As the communities in Boulder and Aurora, Colorado and Denton, Texas demonstrate, local solutions that target unique segments of the non-chronically homeless population are possible, can be successful, and should be encouraged.

Click here to read the full report.