Ending homelessness in the First State

For 37 years, the University of Delaware has served as a cornerstone for research, public service and efforts to address homelessness in Delaware. In 1988, UD's Center for Community Research and Service (CCRS) began reporting on homelessness and its implications in Delaware.

In 2018, CCRS and the Institute for Public Administration (IPA), both research centers in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, began collaborating on a series of events, research and technical assistance focused on the public policy issues impacting affordable housing and homelessness in the first state. CCRS director Stephen Metraux and IPA director Jerome Lewis established a housing policy team to connect service providers, policymakers and stakeholders across the state to collaborate on reducing homelessness and increasing housing access and affordability.

Public service in action through statewide partnerships

In August, the centers jointly hosted the Homelessness in Delaware 2025: Local and State Responses Amidst Federal Retrenchment conference to promote dialogue among state and local agencies, nonprofits, private sector developers and other stakeholders on homelessness and affordable housing issues. This forum offers a platform to share relevant data, innovative solutions, policy options and partnership opportunities across sectors and geographies.

"The conference is the flagship event for a hub that CCRS and IPA have built around disseminating research, policy guidance and technical assistance specific to housing and homelessness in Delaware," Metraux said. "Beyond that, we also seek to create a space that brings together the diverse stakeholders involved in this area, in the hopes that from this we will be better able to collaborate and coordinate resources."

Convening conversations on homelessness

This year's conference provided a productive forum to discuss current challenges and actions being taken to mitigate and end the experience of homelessness. Morning sessions covered potentially replicable models to support individuals experiencing homelessness or at immediate risk of homelessness in securing housing. They also included an extensive discussion of potential impacts in Delaware from the recently issued Executive Order 14321.

Conference speakers represent organizations including the Wilmington Housing Authority (WHA), New Castle County Hope Center and Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA).

Afternoon sessions spotlighted progress made over the past year in developing vehicles to address homelessness among Delawareans through systems change. One of those initiatives includes the Governor's establishment of the Delaware Interagency Collaboration to End Homelessness, a cabinet-level body focused on reducing and ending youth homelessness within the next five years. It also includes the 2025 Blueprint for Solving Homelessness, developed by the Delaware Continuum of Care to help inform the work of the Interagency Collaboration and other stakeholders.

A call to action

Keynote speaker Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), emphasized the potential impacts of federal policy on those experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness, on the collective ability to address those needs, and the urgency of continuing the work in the face of adversity and uncertainty.

"We need planning. We need grit. We need determination. And it looks like you all here in Delaware have been working on that with more to come," said Oliva.