Connecting Health and Homeless Services in New Jersey

Homelessness is a root cause of health inequity, disproportionately affecting groups already experiencing health disparities especially African American, Latinx and Indigenous populations. Coordinated action, informed by timely evidence and data, is needed by homeless services and health delivery systems, as well as at the policy level, to achieve sustained improvement in the health and wellbeing of PEH. The aim of this project is to build on a five-year grant award from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) to the Center for State Health Policy (CSHP) to address important gaps in knowledge about how homelessness contributes to disparities in access to essential health services for Medicaid-enrolled adults and how permanent supportive housing can mitigate those disparities. CSHP will also coordinate closely with a team at Rutgers Bloustein School, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to develop new data resources and engage community stakeholders to improve housing affordability in New Jersey.