At a time of significant investment and rapid change in efforts to address unsheltered homelessness, strengthening connections across research, policy, and practice is more critical than ever. Bridging the gap between evidence, decision-making, and on-the-ground implementation remains essential to advancing effective and equitable solutions.
On March 24, 2026, at USC City Center, the Homelessness Policy Research Institute (HPRI) and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) co-hosted Evidence, Experience, and Pathways: A Convening on Unsheltered Homelessness in Los Angeles. Below, we are pleased to share highlights from the convening, along with presentation resources and materials from featured speakers.
Poster Gallery Session
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The poster session featured doctoral students presenting their research, fostering dynamic discussions and knowledge sharing with attendees.
- Olivia Martin, Stanford – Courts and the Policing of Homelessness
- Noah Boden-Gologorsky, Stanford – Using Administrative Health Records To Study Homelessness
- Edwin Song, Stanford – Neighborhood Impacts of Homeless Encampment Cleanings in Los Angeles
- Tyan Lee, Stanford – Bridging Homelessness and Census Data: A CoC-to-Place Geographic Crosswalk
- Geoffrey Cui-Nauder, USC – Empty Stomachs, Restless Nights: Linking Housing Instability, Breakfast Skips, and Sleep Deficits to Academic Outcomes
- Peichen Liu, USC – When SNAP is Disrupted: Impacts of the Federal Shutdown on Food Security Among People Experiencing Homelessness
- Sam Lutzker, UCLA – Very Large Expenditure, Very Little Care: Los Angeles’ “CARE+” Homeless Services Program in Council District 11
- Anny Viloria, UCLA – Temporal Association between Discrimination and Substance Use Among Homeless Adults in Los Angeles County: Findings from the Periodic Assessment of Trajectories of Housing, Homelessness, and Health Study (PATHS)
State of Play
Benjamin Henwood, Director of HPRI, opened the convening by identifying a central tension in Los Angeles: despite significant public investment, unsheltered homelessness continues to rise, underscoring the need for more realistic, evidence-driven approaches that grapple with tradeoffs and system limitations. He also noted the challenge of implementing evidence-based approaches—particularly Housing First—in a system constrained by scarce housing, services, workforce capacity, and public empathy.
- View slides: A Convening on Unsheltered Homelessness in L.A.
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David B. Grusky, Faculty Director of the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, provided a national overview of shelter capacity across Continuums of Care, highlighting that Los Angeles has substantially fewer shelter resources relative to most regions.
- View slides: Unsheltered Homelessness in the U.S.
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Dialogue on Priorities
During the Dialogue session, three panelists offered perspectives from different angles on addressing unsheltered homelessness. Saba Mwine-Chang emphasized the idea that the data-driven solutions and lived-experience insights we already have need to be implemented at the scale and speed the crisis demands. Jasper Cooper highlighted the need for more efficient and effective pathways to connect individuals from initial outreach to interim and ultimately permanent housing. Celina Alvarez emphasized the importance of trust, relationships, and flexibility, as well as meeting people where they are and navigating barriers to accessing and sustaining housing.
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- Saba Mwine-Chang, Deputy Director for Community Opportunities, LAHSA
- Jasper Cooper, Director of Data Analytics and Evaluation, LA HSH
- Celina Alvarez, Executive Director, Housing Works
Lightning Briefs: What we learned & Why it matters
Five presenters were challenged to distill their recent research into concise 10-minute lightning briefs, delivering focused and impactful insights.
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- Louis Abramson, RAND – Trends Among the Unsheltered in Three Los Angeles Neighborhoods – Findings from the LA LEADS Project: 2024 Data
- Randall Kuhn, UCLA – PATHS: Using Mobile Phone Technology to Survey People Experiencing Homelessness
- Rafik Wahbi and Carla Orendorff – Unhoused Community Experiences with LA Fires: Health Survey (Mutual Aid Research Collective)
- Jill Bauman, Amplifi – Benefits Navigator: An Online Tool for Case Workers and Clients
- Derek Alan Christopher, SIEPR – The Social and Individual Effects of Homeless Shelter: Evidence From Temporary Shelter Provision
For more information on our featured presenters, please refer to the speaker bios available here.
Conclusion
Dr. Dan Flaming led a wrap-up conversation to summarize the important topics and learnings of the day. SIEPR Senior Fellow Mark Duggan closed out our day challenging the audience to imagine what might be the next big, unexpected development that can push us forward in making progress ending homelessness.
We are grateful for the opportunity to host this event, and look forward to continuing these conversations in future convenings, including one on the upcoming Olympics. A special thanks to our partners at SIEPR, who were integral in planning and funding this event!