Abstract:
In the late 1990s, Dennis Culhane, a professor and social science researcher, launched a groundbreaking study of homelessness in New York City. Culhane set out to measure the services used by a large group of severely mentally ill homeless, and then to see how that service use changed once the group was placed in supportive housing-low-cost housing that included a range of medical and counseling services. The results, first released in 2001, were a boon for supportive housing advocates. According to the study, not only did service use plummet once the homeless individuals moved into supportive housing, but the savings from those service reductions almost covered the cost of the supportive housing itself. The research findings were widely cited, and figured prominently in a 2004 debate in New York over what role supportive housing should play in an ambitious plan to end chronic homelessness in the city. But even as the city considered dramatically expanding the stock of supportive housing, some policymakers questioned whether the cost savings indicated by the study could actually be realized, or whether supportive housing was just another important but costly tool for addressing the crisis of homelessness.
Learning Objective:
This two-part case study allows discussion of the impact of research on policymaking, as well as key issues in assessing the costs and benefits of social service programs, including whether social services can realize significant savings when demand exceeds supply; the political challenge of managing collaborative programs under which costs rise in some agencies but savings accrue elsewhere; and how specific populations served can affect costs and benefits.
