Giving Compass' Take:

• Doug Irving discusses a recent study by the RAND Corporation that shows how Los Angeles has improved life for the most vulnerable people and saved taxpayers millions of dollars. According to Irving, health care spending has been reduced by providing permanent housing to LA's homeless population.

• How can other cities mimic this supportive housing program, and what are the obstacles to scaling it on the national level?

• Here are some ways to engage communities to end homelessness.

On any given night, tens of thousands of people sleep on the streets of Los Angeles, the nation's capital of unsheltered homelessness.

But a recent RAND study found a reason for hope on those same streets. Los Angeles County has quietly succeeded in moving some of its most chronically homeless and vulnerable residents into permanent housing, with health care and social services. And it's done it while saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

“It makes a very compelling argument to say, 'Look, if we provide housing and support, we can actually save money,'” said Sarah Hunter, a senior behavioral scientist who led RAND's evaluation of the program and has spent years working with service providers on Los Angeles's Skid Row.

“Creating hurdles for people in need to receive housing is not the right approach,” she said. “There are better ways to meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable in our society.”

Los Angeles County had more than 53,000 people experiencing homelessness at last count. Nearly 40,000 of them were living on the streets, in their cars, or in makeshift camps, the nation's largest population of unsheltered homeless people by far.

Read the full article about supportive housing for the homeless by Doug Irving at the RAND Corporation.