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Discussion Guide


It would be irresponsible to discuss housing policy in the United States without acknowledging our nation’s history of land theft and the disproportionate allocation of resources to White populations. In other words, access to land and land ownership, stable housing, and home ownership is deeply intertwined with the history of structural and institutional racism in America and the inadequacy of the current social safety net.

See A Brief Timeline of Race and Homelessness in America for a more extensive survey of the connections between race and homelessness.


Becoming unhoused usually occurs with some sort of crisis, some of which are traumatic.
  • The loss of housing usually happens within close relationships and relationship disruption combined with the lack of economic choices.
  • The experience of being unhoused includes all sorts of victimization, exposure to the elements, and the indignities of living your private life in public.
  • Most individuals without housing are not mentally ill (~⅓) and the majority do not have a substance abuse problem (~20 - 40 percent.)

Most people exit the experience of being unhoused on their own.
  • 80 percent of homeless are transitionally homeless--in other words they become unhoused once, on an average of three weeks, usually housed within a couple of months, and never return.
  • The majority of the transitionally homeless reconnect with family and friends and are able to do it without services.
  • The other 15-20 percent, chronic homelessness, are not able to exit on their own because of some sort of disability and need structures to help. But when given the help, they are able to leave being unhoused permanently behind.


The National Alliance to End Homelessness identifies five leading factors for experiencing homelessness

 
Lack of Affordable Housing
The lack of affordable housing for low income people. Without options people face eviction, instability, and are unhoused. 

Economic Insecurity
Low income households often do not earn enough to take care of all their basic needs — food, clothing, transportation and housing.
  • It is generally accepted that low-income households should spend no more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs in order to have sufficient income for other needs.10
  • In Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle (cities with some of the nation’s most expensive housing) the city’s poorest are severely rent-burdened, meaning they pay more than 50 percent of their incomes on rent, making it increasingly difficult to sustain housing.

Health Problems
Health problems can cause a person to experience homelessness and be detrimentally effected by being unhoused and unsheltered.
  • People who experience chronic homelessness live 30 years less, on average, than other Americans.
  • Not having access to a shower has been found to be one of the most humiliating aspects of homelessness and a factor to potential ill health.
  • Behavioral health in youth is complex. The lack of positive social support systems, depression, and exposure to violence or trauma can be contributing factors.

Escaping Violence
Many become unhoused when leaving an abusive relationship.
  • The National Center for Children in Poverty reports that according to multiple studies examining the causes of homelessness, among mothers with children experiencing homelessness, more than 80% had previously experienced domestic violence.
  • Between 22 and 57% of all homeless women report that domestic violence was the immediate cause of their homelessness.

Racial Disparities
Most minority groups in the U.S. experience homelessness at higher rates than Whites. Structural racism and the history of racial disparities are inextricably linked to stable housing.
 

Housing First

A homeless assistance approach that prioritizes permanent housing and does not require people experiencing homelessness to address (or have solved) all of their problems before they can access housing. This approach is guided by the belief that people need basic necessities like food and a place to live before being able to get a job, budget properly, or attend to substance use issues. This approach also prioritizes client agency—the belief that the clients’ choice in housing and support services leads to greater success and long-term follow through.

Without access to stable housing and services, many people experiencing chronic, or long-term, homelessness (15-20 percent) become trapped in homelessness-jail cycle—rotating in and out of jail, detoxification centers, and emergency health care. This cycle doesn’t help people access the assistance they need to find stability, and it comes at a major cost to taxpayers.

Navigation Centers

The Seattle Downtown Emergency Service Center defines a Navigation Center as a “low-barrier, service-enriched shelter targeting high-needs homeless adults living in encampments.”17 Low barrier includes a range of housing settings that are not always available at shelters including singles, pairs, or groups; with pets, spaces to secure their belongings, many are ADA compliant.

In Lead Me Home we witness a tense exchange between housed community members in the San Francisco Embarcadero neighborhood and the San Francisco City Council regarding the building of a new SAFE Navigation Center in the area. These spaces include hygiene facilities, 24/7 staffing, and supportive case management. More than anything, Navigation Centers, and other offer an opportunity to regain safety and engage in rebuilding their lives and establish pathways to permanent housing.

Explore how the cities in Lead Me Home are adopting this option:

Radical Hospitality™ Philosophy

This is Lava Mae (now LavaMaeX’s) core philosophy which is rooted in treating people with extraordinary care; something rarely offered to people who are unhoused. It is based on the premise of restoring a person’s dignity, rekindling their optimism, and fueling a sense of opportunity. This is practiced everyday when LavaMaeX staff brings mobile showers and other critical services to the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland. They recognize that how you deliver the service is just as important as the service itself, it’s not a transaction, it’s about establishing a relationship - truly seeing people as individuals, accepting them and restoring their self-worth. They refer to them as guests, they are honored to serve them. In Lead Me Home we see the power of radical hospitality on the lives of their guests. While a shower and hygiene are critical, Doniece Sandoval, founder of Lava Mae, says it is about so much more. “Radical Hospitality is about reconnecting with dignity and self-worth… and it works in both directions. Choosing to see, effects the person being seen and the person choosing to see.”

Rapid re-housing (RRH)

A solution designed to help individuals and families to quickly exit homelessness and return to permanent housing. There are no preconditions (such as employment, income, or sobriety) and the support services are tailored to the unique needs of the individual or family. The three main components of RRH or housing identification, rent and move-in assistance, and case management.

Permanent Supportive Housing

Permanent supportive housing is an intervention that combines affordable housing assistance with voluntary support services to address the needs of chronically homeless people. The services are designed to build independent living and tenancy skills and connect people with community-based health care, treatment and employment services.

State of Emergency

Lead Me Home opens with: “In the past five years, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle have declared states of emergency (SOE) regarding homelessness.”

A State or local state of emergency refers to a crisis or disaster in which a government suspends normal procedures to take urgent action. In current homelessness SOEs, this has meant using funds more flexibly to reduce regulatory barriers for additional funds. SOEs can generate a sense of urgency and create public and political will to address issues more quickly, however declaring an SOE does not compel the Federal government to take any action or provide any resources.

Strengthen the Social Safety Net

Programs that provide assistance to improve the lives of the most vulnerable individuals and families. In the U.S. Social Security is the larger safety net program. Other programs include food assistance (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Supplemental Food Program for women, infants, and children (WIC), Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Transitional Housing

Temporary housing for certain segments of the homeless population, including working homeless people who are earning too little.

Classroom Curriculum

Teaching Lead Me Home: Solving Homelessness in America is a three-part inquiry-based curriculum exploring the political, economic, and historical context of homelessness in America. Students begin by watching the Oscar-nominated Lead Me Home, a documentary short telling stories of people experiencing homelessness from their perspective. With their stories in mind and today's crisis as a point of departure, students then analyze key events and federal policies over the past century that shaped and continue to influence our present crisis before reflecting and writing about possible remedies for solving homelessness in their own community.

Here are recommended class formats to adjust for your specific needs and schedule.

Four-Day Unit One 50-min. class period to watch the documentary plus three class periods to complete the lessons.

Block Period Complete Part I and Part II in one 90-min. block period. Assign Part III for homework.

Flipped Classroom Model

  • Have students watch the documentary short at home, using a Netflix account.
  • Complete Part I, Part II, and Part III in three in-person (or online) 50-min. periods with homework.

Professional Development Workshops/Informal Adult Education (90 min.)

  • Watch the documentary as a group.
  • Post-screening discussion using Part I: Lead Me Home of the resource as your guide

As this lesson relies heavily on a shared online folder with readings, upload the following materials (beginning on page 12 of this guide) prior to starting day one:
  • Handout One - Definition of Homelessness
  • Handout Two - Filmmakers Perspective
  • Handout Three -  History of Homelessness in America
  • Jigsaw readings
Round One: Readings begin on page 15 of this guide
  • Reading One: The Great Depression
  • Reading Two: The New Deal
  • Reading Three: Social Safety Net and Timeline of Deinstitutionalization 
  • Reading Four: McKinney-Vento Act and HEARTH Act 
Round Two: Readings are linked below to be accessed online
While the term “homeless” is frequently used, many unhoused people deem it stigmatizing and imprecise arguing that a sense of home should not be conflated with a physical structure. Throughout the curriculum “homeless” and “unhoused” are used interchangeably to reflect these current conversations over terminology. In recent years, nonprofit workers and advocates have also been trying to change how we describe people experiencing homelessness. Rather than say “the homeless” or “homeless person,” they prefer “person experiencing homelessness.” It’s a person-first approach to language that focuses on the person rather than their circumstance.

 

PERSON-FIRST LANGUAGE IDENTITY-FIRST LANGUAGE
A person experiencing homelessness A homeless person
A person living with a disability A disabled person
A girl who has autism An autistic girl
 

 

Access to stable housing and home ownership in America is also deeply intertwined with the history of land and land ownership and structural and institutional racism. If your students have background knowledge on colonial settlement of indigenous lands, it may be a rich conversation to bring this into your classroom.

Lead Me Home, paired with this screening resource, offers university and community gatherings
a close and intimate look at the experiences of being homeless in America.

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