Dr. Charley Willison, Assistant Professor
Cornell MPH Assistant Professor, Dr. Charley Willison and University of Michigan PhD student, Amanda Mauri recently co-authored a paper in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Global Public Health that looks at urban homelessness in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations.
Willison and Mauri evaluate the presence of formal homeless policies and factors related to protections for unhoused persons through health and welfare policies across OECD nations. Most countries don’t have formal federal policies to address homelessness and leave responses to local governments, with varying degrees of financial support to make these efforts successful.
Willison notes that “local governments are almost always the implementers of homeless solutions and often are the main policy decision makers…This devolution and decentralization in the homeless policy space makes it unique compared to the historically more centralized welfare or health state institutions among OECD nations.”
“As people move forward in a world threatened by many forms of instability, ranging from the global climate crisis, to pandemics, economic downturn, and conflict, which will likely produce increased risks and rates of homelessness, one must examine the governance systems established to address this problem” says Willison. “Local actors must be supported in their role as the primary designers, implementers, and funders of homeless policy, through intergovernmental, and intersectoral coordination, including strong funding from federal structures. This is of utmost importance in weak, fragmented welfare and health systems.”