A Brief But Spectacular take on preventing homelessness

It’s exciting to see that through the Streets To Home Indy program, Indianapolis is finally taking a substantial step towards addressing its chronic homelessness crisis. Addressing the effects of a broken system is something we must do. However, if we don’t fix the system, we’ll be right back in the crisis.

In 2023 I wrote about an LA Times article that reported how Los Angeles was using algorithms to predict folks who were at risk of losing their housing. I’m thrilled to learn that the program is alive, well and flourishing, as evidenced by this recent PBS News Hour report shows. A current research project in Texas posits that most people end up in eviction court for $250 - a flat tire, a sick child, a seemingly innocuous, minor incident that causes them to be short at the end of the month. What if we intervened before they’re in crisis? Keeping people housed is more compassionate and far cheaper than forcing them into a system that makes it nearly impossible to get their lives back in order.