Area of Expertise: Policy and Advocacy

The growth of supportive housing over the last 30 years has been built on a foundation of research showing that it provides core benefits to people and communities. CSH compiled this list of selected literature on supportive housing from the last 20 years as a resource. Please review each source carefully to understand how to apply it to your work. Download a summary of outcomes in supportive housing including many of these listed sources by clicking here.

This guide outlines five essential outcomes every successful supportive housing program should target, drawn from the larger CSH Quality Supportive Housing Standards. The Quality Standards provides a roadmap for creating and operating supportive housing that will best
achieve meaningful results. CSH encourages organizations to know their baseline performance regarding these outcomes and set ambitious goals to drive ongoing progress.

This critical resource will identify the need for the creation of 38,000 units of supportive housing, the anticipated cost of addressing this need, and recommendations for funding mechanisms that have been proven to expand the resources needed to create supportive housing opportunities.

H.R.1 is estimated to reduce federal spending on Medicaid by more than $1 trillion over ten years, and cause as many as ten million people to lose their health insurance.

The new law enacts policy and funding changes to key housing development financing tools: the Private Activity Bonds (PABs) and 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program and the 9% LIHTC Program.

These recommendations encompass a statewide action plan to end homelessness and address Pennsylvania’s need for supportive housing. These recommendations incorporate feedback from the Pennsylvania Supportive Housing Coalition members along with core elements of other effective state plans on homelessness.

H.R.1, as signed into law on July 4, 2025, contains more than three hundred provisions that change tax policies and entitlement programs, including many that impact the supportive housing industry and the people we serve. CSH’s initial impact analysis is focused on three sections of the law that will require state-level decisions in the short term.

H.R.1 includes requirements and budgetary changes that will make continuous health care coverage a challenge for individuals who are experiencing homelessness or have experienced homelessness and housing instability, including most supportive housing residents. This brief summarizes solutions to help states ensure that Medicaid eligible individuals remain enrolled and compliant with the new law.

New York City is facing a homelessness crisis, with more than 140,000 people experiencing homelessness, including many in migrant shelters. Supportive housing is an evidence-based best practice that has been proven to reduce homelessness and interactions with crisis systems while helping individuals and communities to thrive.

This landscape assessment discusses challenges and gaps in addressing the needs of New Yorkers with high acuity health needs. It also presents recommendations for effective interventions and promising models.

This brief provides an analysis of how Qualified Allocation Plans (QAPs) – which layout each jurisdiction’s plan for distributing Low-income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) – prioritize supportive housing development. It also offers guidelines that housing finance agencies and state leaders can use to begin closing the supportive housing gap across the country.