Area of Expertise: Research and Data Analysis

A new independent study from Social Impact Insights raises doubts about Utah’s proposed “transformative campus” for people experiencing homelessness. It finds that the campus is unlikely to reduce rising homelessness, is far more expensive than anticipated, and defies best practices. The project is on hold amid budget delays and uncertainty about federal funding.

• Campuses do not reduce homelessness.
• The Utah campus is oversized.
• Location would worsen outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.
• Costs are higher than advertised.
• The model homelessness program that Utah cites has already changed.

Bottom Line

Decades of research show the best results come from pairing affordable housing with voluntary noncoercive mental health and substance use treatment. The proposed campus would be one of Utah’s largest homelessness investments in decades. The evidence suggests it is unlikely to deliver the outcomes promised.

Navigating the financing of supportive housing can be complex—especially when projects require multiple capital, operating, and services funding sources. The Road Map to Financing Supportive Housing in Pennsylvania is a practical resource designed to help developers, service providers, public agencies, and community partners understand and align the key funding streams that make supportive housing possible.

This roadmap outlines current federal, state, and local public funding sources commonly used to develop and sustain permanent supportive housing across Pennsylvania. It covers capital for development and preservation, rental assistance and operating subsidies to keep housing affordable, and service funding that promotes housing stability for people with disabilities, behavioral health needs, and those at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Updated for 2026, the guide reflects Pennsylvania’s current policy and funding landscape and highlights opportunities to braid housing, health, and human services resources.

Whether you are early in project planning or refining a financing strategy, this roadmap offers a clear starting point for building strong, sustainable supportive housing in Pennsylvania.

The CSH Supportive Housing Need tool provides communities with system‑level data on supportive housing needs across populations and systems, informing policy and program design. It also provides financial modeling at the state and local levels, allowing communities to estimate the capital, services, and operating costs to make data-driven decisions that demonstrate the effectiveness and value of sustaining supportive housing.

CSH partnered with Housing Narrative Lab to research and understand supportive housing narratives. We saw a gap in supportive housing specific narrative data and sought to understand awareness and perceptions of supportive housing among broad audiences.  These research findings will help the field coordinate and rally amplifiers around messaging that resonates and persuades.

Twenty years ago, CSH developed the FUSE (Frequently Used Systems Engagement) model to deliver a transformative solution that aligns housing, health, and justice systems to provide supportive housing and coordinated care. With a proven track record of success, FUSE has become a national model for cross-sector collaboration and data-driven intervention.

For 20 years, CSH has partnered with communities across the country to identify people with complex needs who frequently cycle through emergency systems—such as shelters, hospitals, and jails—and connect them to the housing and services they need to break the cycle, achieve stability, and thrive.

This brief highlights 4 communities that have successfully implemented FUSE. Partners share their lessons learned and the lasting impact that FUSE has had on systems, residents, and communities.

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 guide enhances understanding of the health conditions experienced by individuals navigating housing instability. Utilizing existing data elements monitored at the intersection of health and housing allows professionals to reduce the administrative burden associated with new data tracking mechanisms while streamlining operations to improve health outcomes.

The New York City Frequent Users System Engagement program (FUSE) was part of the CSH’s Returning Home Initiative, a multi-year effort of public, inter-agency collaboration and investment that provided supportive housing for people cycling between incarceration and homelessness. NYC FUSE targeted persons with recurring homelessness and incarceration, most of whom challenged also by health, mental health, and/or substance use issues.

Columbia University researchers evaluated FUSE by comparing program participants with a closely matched comparison group of “frequent users.” This evaluation found that supportive housing significantly reduced participants’ (re)admissions to and time spent in jail and homeless shelters and their use of crisis healthcare services. These reductions resulted in significantly lower costs for publicly supported services, offsetting housing and other program costs. Results have inspired jurisdictions throughout the US to launch similar efforts.

Now, 10 years later, the FUSE Long Term Study presents a unique opportunity to examine stable housing as a critical component of successful community reentry, not simply in the short term but over people’s lives.

This data brief guides system providers on how to better coordinate data and services for families involved with systems, such as child welfare, homelessness response, behavioral health, education and justice.