Equitable Housing Projects

The Equitable Housing Research Project is a community-partnered research collaboration between the HERE Center’s Critical Analytics for the Social Science of Inequitable Ecosystems (CASSIE) Labs, a critical social research laboratory, and Los Angeles Family Housing (LAFH), a non-profit organization that offers housing and other supportive services for people experiencing houselessness.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that 17 out of 10,000 people in the United States were experiencing houselessness. Locally, a Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority report estimated that nearly 83,000 Angelenos fell into homelessness in 2019. Among this population, 24% have substance abuse disorders and 22% suffer from serious mental illness. While other regions within Los Angeles County carry the brunt of homeless living, the San Fernando Valley accounts for 14%. In fact, community health needs assessments conducted by Dignity Health and the Kaiser Foundation have identified houselessness and affordable housing as primary health issues for Valley residents.

The Equitable Housing Research Project examines the effectiveness of housing and supportive services through the implementation of rigorous critical social scientific research. The project is guided by a set of basic but important questions. What clients are succeeding in the LAFH program? Who is not experiencing success? And why? The project also examines trauma- and stigma-related factors associated with houselessness. Collectively, these efforts provide LAFH the scientific and data-driven approach needed to address the issue of houselessness, allowing LAFH and the HERE Center to achieve their shared missions.

Collaborators:

CSU Northridge

• Jose H. Vargas, HERE Center (Methodologist), CASSIE Labs (Director)
• J. Zak Peet, CASSIE Labs (Project Lead)
• Judith Lin, CASSIE Labs (Research Assistant)
• Joseluz Sosa, CASSIE Labs (Research Assistant)
• Carrie Saetermoe, HERE Center

Community

• Martha Macias, LAFH (Director of Compliance and Data)
• Kris Freed, LAFH (Chief Program Officer)
• Kimberly Roberts, LAFH (Deputy Chief Programs Officer)

For more information, please email Dr. Jose H. Vargas, CASSIE Labs Director.