Research by New England Public Policy Center staff examines the scope of homelessness in New England and the potential role of subsidized housing in alleviating homelessness in the region. The authors, Robert Clifford and Osborne Jackson, explore the extent to which increased affordable housing can decrease neighborhood homelessness in moderately poor areas, focusing on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) as a source of subsidized housing. Local increases in subsidized housing are likely to reduce neighborhood homelessness, especially in New England, they conclude.

The number of sheltered homeless families in Massachusetts and Vermont is on the rise, the report also notes, driving an increase in measured homelessness in New England. Clifford and Jackson consider three theories for the cause of the increase: the interaction of national market forces and area-specific shelter policies, area-specific market forces, and challenges in accurately measuring the homeless population.

Read more about these and other findings in the full report.