DETERMINING THE REAL COST OF HOMELESSNESS

The Supportive Housing Network of New York (SHNNY) promotes supportive housing development by providing policy analysis, advocacy, and assistance to organizations managing supportive housing units across the state. With advocacy being central to SHNNY’s work in securing funding at the local, state, and federal levels, the organization enlisted a Capstone team to help determine costs associated with homelessness. The team calculated the real per-day costs of different settings and contexts that homeless individuals engage with in the absence of supportive housing. The team consulted with various experts in the field and reviewed a variety of prior research, financial reports, and local government budgets to create a series of cost estimates in five New York cities: Albany, Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, and Syracuse. The team’s findings and estimates illustrate the high cost of a lack of investment in permanent supportive housing and inform SHNNY’s future engagement with policymakers, media, other stakeholders, and the general public.