The Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response: Immediate and Flexible Crisis Options for Children and Families

The Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response project provides guidance to communities on how to use a wide range of federal funding sources, including the American Rescue Plan Act and the CARES Act programs, strategically across key public health and economic recovery strategies to meet public health goals, increase housing stability, and prevent future increases in homelessness – all with a racial justice and equity lens. Aligned with that guidance, this brief focuses on the need for immediate and flexible crisis options paired with strong housing exits that can be replicated, adapted, and scaled up or down as needs and/or scale of resources change in each community, with the goal that “no child sleeps outside.” A project team composed of four individuals with professional expertise (two also had with lived expertise of homelessness) conducted the research to uncover programs and community responses that are offering flexible crisis options that can be applied to other places. More than thirty programs and communities were contacted and ultimately nine (9) programs were selected to spotlight in this report.