Developing homelessness prevention practice: combining research evidence and professional knowledge

This paper presents recommendations of three kinds for the development of homelessness prevention: for practice changes, for the concerted development of evidence on the effectiveness of different measures, and for a more systematic approach to the identification and dissemination of good practice. The recommendations were developed through consultation with health-care, social service and housing provider staff. They were asked to comment on the results of a study of 131 newly homeless people, which showed that there were five prevalent ‘packages of reasons’ that created distinctive ‘pathways’ into homelessness and concluded that some cases were preventable. This article outlines the principles of homelessness prevention and recent British policy initiatives in the field, summarises the research methodology and relevant findings, and describes the consultation. The final section discusses the discrepancy between the high priority that homelessness prevention currently receives and the primitiveness of both the evidence base and the arrangements for good practice dissemination.