Findings, Opportunities and Tensions: Building an Inter-University Collaborative to End Homelessness

Background and Purpose: The Arizona Housing Analytics Collaborative (AzHAC), which partners with providers to end homelessness and its disproportionate social impact in Arizona, is spearheaded by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from social work, public health, psychology, and engineering representing the three public universities in Arizona. The primary goal of the collaborative is to estimate the incidence and prevalence of homelessness in Arizona using linked cross-system administration data as well as the health and psychosocial characteristics most likely to increase risk of homelessness and result in successful exits of homelessness. The collaborative is in the process of drawing data from six sectors: healthcare, housing/homelessness services, economic security, education, criminal justice and child welfare. In strengthening the quantitative aims of the project, a qualitative arm has been established to refine the definitions and the concepts that are integral to the research questions. Using principles of community-based participatory approach (CBPR), this study examines the opportunities and challenges in developing this inter-university consortium.

Methods: Principles of CBPR guided the study’s collaborative framework. Following CBPR principles, decision-making was collaborative and inclusive involving active participation of key stakeholders. For this project, CBPR was an appropriate method for guiding analytical planning, methodological approaches including qualitative and quantitative analyses, dissemination efforts, and inclusive participation of statewide stakeholders.

Results: This research has produced 1) a list of more than 70 research questions with both quantitative and qualitative components through the engagement of the service-provider community, 2) a focus group protocol from data gleaned from 9 key informant interviews, 3) 17 completed focus groups with service providers in Maricopa (Phoenix), Pima (Tucson), and Coconino (Flagstaff) counties with accompanying analyses, 4) 2 infographics disseminated to statewide partners, 5) analyses of high utilizers of homeless services; 6) findings examining returns to homelessness with racial disparities, and 7) cost-benefit analyses of homeless services. The collaborative also recently obtained 5 years of Homeless Management Information System data from two of the state's three Continuum of Care programs encompassing 14 of Arizona's 15 counties. These data are linked to statewide referral data to identify early-warning indicators of entering homelessness.

Conclusions: Preliminary analyses highlight the key opportunities encountered by the research team and challenges inherent in these collaborative efforts. These findings will inform statewide strategic planning and a framework for action on homelessness in Arizona. They also may serve as a model for university-community collaboratives in other states to prevent and intervene in homelessness.