Two major demographic trends — the rapid aging and racial diversification of the U.S. population — have collided with spiraling housing costs to foment a homelessness crisis among older adults of color. Owing to structural disadvantages experienced throughout their lives, older adults of color are particularly vulnerable to enduring homelessness — and to suffering its worst consequences. Yet most relevant research examines how homelessness risk and intervention effectiveness vary by race and age, separately, rather than both simultaneously.
In this study, we employ an intersectional lens and a mixed-methods approach to estimate ageand race-based disparities in the risk of previously unhoused adults who received homelessness services and are subsequently returning for additional services, suggesting unresolved housing precarity. We also assess whether and why Housing First interventions, which prioritize permanent housing and service recipients’ specific needs and preferences (e.g., Permanent Supportive Housing [PSH]; Rapid Re-Housing [RRH]), reduce this risk to a greater extent for older, versus younger, adults and for older adults of color rather than White older adults.
Our quantitative analyses rely on de-identified data from the Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) in Los Angeles County, which is arguably the epicenter of America’s homelessness surge. The dataset tracks nearly all adults interfacing with the county’s Continuum of Care (CoC), a community-wide system integrating local resources, services, and data to support those experiencing homelessness in securing stable housing, from 2013 through 2019; in supplementary analyses, we extend our timeframe of interest through 2023. We also conducted interviews with a racially diverse group of 40 older adults who have experienced homelessness and currently reside in scattered-site or project-based PSH settings in Los Angeles.