What tradeoffs are made on the path to functional zero chronic homelessness?

Garrett L. Grainger

Housing Studies, 2024, vol. 39, issue 7, 1702-1723

Abstract: Built for Zero (BFZ) is a resource allocation method for homeless systems that has gained popularity in North America. Community Solutions, the organization that created/promotes BFZ, argues system managers can end homelessness by using business management techniques to flexibly allocate housing assistance and achieve systemwide benchmarks like functional zero chronic homelessness. Little research has analyzed how BFZ strategies are applied to homeless systems. This is a notable blind spot because homeless systems confront different barriers/enablers that facilitate/constrain BFZ integration. I extend housing scholarship by using ethnographic data of referral meetings in a large U.S. County to analyze managerial use of BFZ strategies promoted by Community Solutions. I show political economic constraints force macro-micro tradeoffs on the path to functional zero that marginalize the wants/needs of some clients by referring them to suboptimal housing. My findings show equitable progress to functional zero requires adequate housing resources so the wants/needs of service recipients are not sidelined.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2022.2141203

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