UC San Diego

Recent shifts in federal policies pertaining to homelessness prioritize those deemed the most vulnerable for housing assistance. While the measurement of vulnerability has come to center histories of unsheltered homelessness as well as mental health, addiction, run-ins with the police, and emergency healthcare utilization, a new method of coordinated entry is used to prioritize those with the highest vulnerability scores for limited long-term housing assistance called permanent supportive housing (PSH). At the same time, recent shifts in federal policy have converged with local efforts to remove those experiencing unsheltered homelessness from city streets through the use of municipal ordinances that criminalize activities associated with homelessness. Drawing on fieldwork as well as 120 interviews with persons with lived experience of homelessness and 49 interviews with service providers, most of whom are living or working within the city of San Diego, this dissertation investigates the ways in which federal and local policy have come together to impact unhoused San Diegans. Four key findings emerged from this qualitative dissertation. First, the author discovered that those who are not deemed vulnerable enough within the new system for housing assistance are forced to linger in a state of homelessness as their physical, mental, social, and economic health deteriorates. Second, the author found that many individuals who would be prioritized for housing assistance have moved into out-of-the-way regions of the county as they have become highly distrustful of authority figures through constant and negative interactions with police officers, medical professionals, and service providers. As most of these individuals are White men, the author argues that gender and race-based socialization additionally accounts for this trend. Third, through interviews with single mothers not prioritized for PSH who were using shorter-term housing interventions, the author concluded that the latter are not adequate to end homelessness in a high-cost region. Finally, through fieldwork across a variety of PSH sites, the author learned that, while access to long-term housing improves holistic health for many residents, PSH buildings are mostly located in neighborhoods that many find to be dangerous and offer units and services that some consider to be inaccessible.