For almost a year, KERA has been reporting on a new approach to combating homelessness in Dallas — one that focuses on closing homeless encampments by moving people into long-term housing and giving them the support they need to stay housed. KERA's Justin Martin talked with Christopher Connelly and Yfat Yossifor about what happens next and the potential of a permanent supportive housing approach to yield transformative results.

A Permanent Supportive Housing Approach to Reducing Homelessness

Justin Martin: So, you guys have spent a year on this project. What surprised you?

Christopher Connelly: I think for me, it's just the resources that it takes to take someone who's living in a homeless encampment, move them into long-term housing permanent supportive housing, and then give them the support that they need to make that adjustment. It's huge.

Yfat Yossifor: Yeah. We also got a real sense of just how traumatizing it is to be homeless. It's absolutely dehumanizing and damaging to be on the street. And with these people we followed, you could see the changes when we went back to visit them. They looked healthier, spoke more clearly, and were more confident.

Martin: So you're talking about what it takes to get people out of homelessness into permanent supportive housing. What drives homelessness?

Connelly: So maybe this sounds obvious, but a lot of homelessness is ultimately driven by a lack of affordable housing. Research shows places that have seen big increases in rents see larger homeless populations. And a lot of people assume that homelessness is driven by poverty or drug use or mental health issues. And, while those may play a role in people's stories, it ultimately comes back to permanent supportive housing.

Martin: Let's talk about where we go from here. Is this decommissioning approach viable in the long term?

Yossifor: There's kind of two ways of looking at this: There’s capacity and there's money. Sarah Khan, who leads the nonprofit Housing Forward, says as long as we keep showing progress, keep seeing homelessness decline, encampments close, then the federal money that has been really driving this will keep coming in. And then there's the question of capacity. This model is permanent supportive housing.

Read the full article about permanent supportive housing by Justin Martin, Christopher Connelly, and Yfat Yossifor at KERA News.