Association for Behavior Analysis International

The 2009 Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act directs federal funding to agencies and services that have adopted a “Housing First” or “Rapid Rehousing” approach. This approach requires that those experiencing homelessness be housed as quickly as possible and that services then be provided to keep them housed (HUD Exchange, 2020). Little controlled research has been undertaken 1) to determine the effectiveness of this approach in maintaining long-term housing stability and 2) to identify the services most important for averting a return to homelessness (Urban Institute, 2018). We suggest that behavior analytic tools, such as the functional analysis (Kanfer & Saslow, 1969), metacontingency analysis (Glenn, 2004), and contextual functional analysis (Hayes, Barnes-Holme, & Wilson, 2012), can be employed to clarify the competencies and skill deficits, supports and resources, and systems level variables that impact long-term housing stability for homeless families. We discuss the need for research that examines whether a culturo-behavior science analysis leads to improved long-term housing stability of families who have experienced homelessness. We present a brief case example to demonstrate the potential utility of this approach and discuss several research strategies to acquire empirical data related to long-term housing stability.