The recent presidential executive order on homelessness, “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” cuts against the grain of current academic and practitioner best practice. But underneath its short-sighted policy proposals is a thematic vein worth considering: accountability.
In the name of accountability, the order shifts federal funding away from housing-first programs that prioritize getting individuals experiencing homelessness into stable housing before addressing other challenges and toward criminalization and civil commitment. This pivot, the order argues, will hold grantees to a higher standard of effectiveness.
We all want public dollars to drive meaningful progress on solving this complex issue. But the order prescribes certain approaches and prohibits others instead of encouraging an adaptable homeless service system that responds to results. This may lead to missed opportunities to put accountability at the forefront by designing evidence-based programs that link public funding to measurable outcomes…