The Bassuk Center is a collaboration of service providers, clinicians, program developers, researchers, policymakers, and activists with the common goal of ending family homelessness in America.
They connect and support communities around the nation where dedicated people work every day to help families find the housing and services they need. The Bassuk Center is active at local, state, and federal levels, urging continued research and increased funding to ensure that no family in America goes without a decent home.
Housing is essential for ending homelessness, but it is not sufficient. Every family needs basic supports beyond decent affordable housing: food, education, employment, child care, transportation, health and mental health care, trauma-informed care, and children’s services.
After 30 years of research and innovation in local communities, they know how to end family homelessness. However, federal policy is still dictated by available resources and continues to ignore the need to support families with permanent housing combined with essential services. In 2015, only 17,000 housing vouchers were available for families.
“Services Matter: How Housing and Services Can End Family Homeless” was prepared by The Bassuk Center to present policymakers with effective solutions to end family homelessness based on emerging research, field experience, and the perspectives of local providers.
Community-based programs from all 50 states have endorsed this report. This burgeoning grassroots network will actively add its voice to the dialogue about how to meet the stated federal goal of ending family homelessness by 2020.
In the first national survey of community providers who work with homeless families, support is very strong for solutions that combine both housing and services. The survey confirms three decades of research and field experience about what is needed to help homeless families.
