Housing First for Youth Who Experience Homelessness: A Systematic Review

Housing First programs are widely used to house adults with histories of chronic homelessness. Recently, Housing First for Youth (HF4Y) emerged as a targeted response to youth homelessness and is presently cited as the ideal model; however, researchers have yet to synthesize the evidence on which this claim is made. Through a systematic review of literature, the present authors fill this gap by offering a thematic synthesis of available peer-reviewed evidence on the impacts of HF4Y on a variety of outcomes for youth who experience homelessness. Five databases were searched from inception to April 2023 and reference lists of relevant articles were hand searched for additional studies. This search finds seven studies that specifically measure outcomes associated with HF4Y enrollment. Findings indicate that HF4Y can improve housing security, but additional research is needed to develop a more robust evidence base. There is a need for longitudinal studies, randomized controlled trials, and rich qualitative studies of HF4Y.