Select Projects

Funded by the National Alliance to End Homelessness 

This study will identify characteristics of people who exit from permanent supportive housing (PSH) to permanent housing without embedded supports, determine the factors that predict these “successful” exits, and examine housing and healthcare utilization outcomes of PSH movers up to three years post move. Guided by a Steering Committee made up of diverse stakeholders knowledgeable of PSH exits, including people with lived experience, it will utilize a longitudinal, two state population-level dataset to identify predictors of successful PSH exit. This research has significant implications for homeless services and holds potential to increase availability of PSH placements for which demand far outstrips supply. 

Emmy Tiderington, PhD, LMSW (Project Lead/Principal Investigator) 

Associate Professor, School of Social Work 

Eric Seymour, Ph.D. (Co-Investigator)

Assistant Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Joel C. Cantor, Sc.D. (Senior Collaborator – Parent Study Principal Investigator)

Distinguished Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Kathe Newman, Ph.D. (Senior Collaborator – Affordable Housing Analysis)

Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

John S. Palatucci, Ph.D., M.P.A. (Research Analyst)

Medicaid Scholar, Center for State Health Policy

Funded by Rutgers Equity Alliance for Community Health (REACH) 

Before COVID-19, Newark, New Jersey, faced significant food insecurity challenges, particularly in the South and West Wards. With the onset of the pandemic, Newark residents who were already struggling with access to adequate food and other basic needs faced even greater challenges. This was even more evident in marginalized groups such as people experiencing homelessness. To address food security issues in Newark, the Nourishing Newark Program was created as an extension of the City of Newark’s Office of Sustainability to specifically address food insecurity efforts post-COVID. In addition, the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services is building safe low-barrier sleeping villages where people experiencing homelessness can have access to safe shelter and supportive services. Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s Department of Family and Community Health Sciences is collaborating with Rutgers School of Social Work to work with the City of Newark’s Office of Sustainability, Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services, and Al-Munir Consulting LLC to support placemaking and food security in a food access initiative within the transitional housing unit of Hope Village II. This work addresses the REACH priority of food access through the development of a community greenhouse to support community food access, nutrition education, and social cohesion. 

Veronica Jones, PhD, MPH, CHES (Lead/Principal Investigator) 

Family and Community Health Sciences Educator (Assistant Professor), School of Environmental and Biological Sciences; New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Family and Community Health Sciences 

Emmy Tiderington, PhD, LMSW (Co-Investigator)

Associate Professor, School of Social Work

Funded by Rutgers Equity Alliance for Community Health (REACH) 

We will engage the New Community Corporation (NCC), a community development corporation in Newark, to enhance its infrastructure to facilitate rapid and stable transitions from homelessness into permanent housing for families in its transitional housing program. Harmony House, NCC’s 102-unit transitional housing facility, hopes to hire a housing navigator to assist families whose housing search is increasingly hindered by high unemployment rates and rising rents. A multidisciplinary team of Rutgers faculty, staff, and students, including four members of the University’s Housing and Health Equity Cluster, will engage with NCC in a data-centered strategic planning process that will ensure that the housing navigator, and NCC’s supports for that role, are appropriate to the challenges facing their families. This strategy’s foundation is a multi-methods approach combining quantitative homeless services data from Harmony House and across Newark with qualitative interviews with NCC clients, staff, and partners and a review of evidence-based practices around housing navigators. Working with NCC, the research team will conduct interviews and analyze data, draft a report, and present the work to NCC and other local stakeholders. Rutgers’ Voorhees Fellows will work with the team on strategies to improve housing navigation practices and obtain sustainable funding. 

Dan Treglia, PhD (Project Lead/Principal Investigator) 

Instructor, Center for State Health Policy, Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging; Department of Family Medicine and Community Health 

Ralph W. Voorhees Fellows (Researchers)

Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Kathe Newman, Ph.D. (Field Researcher)

Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Director, Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement

Funded by the Rutgers Equity Alliance for Community Health (REACH) 

The project seeks to 1) understand who is reaching out to emergency service providers for help in New Brunswick and identify what kinds of services they need. 2) map the service infrastructure and identify disconnects. 3) identify innovative strategies for meeting homeless needs across the country and present the results to Unity Square and other emergency service providers and convene a discussion of emergency service and homeless service providers to share the results and discuss next steps 

Eric Seymour, PhD (Project Lead/Principal Investigator) 

Assistant Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy 

Emmy Tiderington, Ph.D., L.M.S.W. (Co-Investigator)

Associate Professor, School of Social Work

Ralph W. Voorhees Fellows (Researchers)

Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Nadia Mian Ph.D. (Field Researcher)

Senior Program Director, Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement

Kathe Newman, Ph.D. (Field Researcher)

Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Director, Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement

Funded by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, NIH 

There is ample evidence that homelessness is associated with inadequate access to essential health services and that African American, Hispanic/Latinx and rural populations are at high risk for homelessness or its consequences. However, there is insufficient knowledge about gaps in use of specific health services among homeless adults, whether such gaps are greater among minority and rural populations, and the potential of permanent supportive housing (PSH) programs to mitigate the gaps. This study aims to: 1) quantify the contribution of homelessness to gaps in essential health services use among Medicaid beneficiaries by race/ethnicity and rural residential status; 2) evaluate the extent to which the gaps are mitigated by placement in PSH programs; and 3) identify Medicaid and PSH policy and programmatic strategies for improving access to essential health services and reducing associated racial/ethnic and rural disparities. The project will be led by investigators from the Rutgers University Center for State Health Policy in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and Monarch Housing Associates. 

Joel C. Cantor, ScD (Principal Investigator) 

Director, Center for State Health Policy, Institute for Health; Distinguished Professor, Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy 

Evan Cole, PhD (co-Investigator, site PI) 

Research Assistant Professor, Director, Medicaid Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health 

Taiisa Kelly (co-Investigator)

Chief Executive Officer, Monarch Housing Associates

Emmy Tiderington, Ph.D., L.M.S.W. (co-Investigator)

Associate Professor, Rutgers School of Social Work

Sujoy Chakravarty, Ph.D. (co-Investigator)

Associate Professor, Rutgers Camden

Michael Yedidia, Ph.D. (co-Investigator)

Research Professor, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, Institute for Health

Funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 

Homelessness is a root cause of health inequity, disproportionately affecting groups already experiencing health disparities, especially African American, Latinx and Indigenous populations. Chronic homelessness is associated with extraordinary burdens of infectious disease, mental illness, substance use disorder, traumatic injury, and other serious conditions, and these morbidities present barriers to achieving stable housing. Coordinated action, informed by timely evidence and data, is needed by homeless services and health delivery systems, and at the policy level, to improve the health and well-being of people experiencing homelessness (PEH). The goal of the proposed project is to improve accessibility of essential community health services for PEH and reduce their reliance on avoidable hospital care across New Jersey. To achieve this goal, the project will: 1) promote collaborative initiatives among homeless- and healthcare-service providers using timely data and evidence and advancing perspectives of PEH; and 2) engage policymakers and other stakeholders to reduce barriers to better care for PEH. 

Joel C. Cantor, ScD (Principal Investigator) 

Director, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, Institute for Health; Distinguished Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy 

Emmy Tiderington, PhD, LMSW (co-Principal Investigator) 

Associate Professor, Rutgers School of Social Work 

Taiisa Kelly (co-Investigator)

Chief Executive Officer, Monarch Housing Associates

Michael Yedidia, Ph.D. (co-Investigator)

Research Professor, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, Institute for Health

Funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 

The New Jersey State of Affordable Rental Housing (NJSOARH) project seeks to better understand the state of rental housing in New Jersey, the processes that shape housing security, and community and resident experiences. We are conducting interviews and organizing focus groups with the key stakeholder groups; building the State of NJ Affordable Rental Housing data infrastructure; conducting an integrated set of rapid research projects; surveying some of the most at-risk households in NJ; and sharing the work through reports, briefs, tools, trainings, and webinars developed with and targeted to different stakeholder groups. 

Eric Seymour, PhD (Project Lead/Principal Investigator) 

Assistant Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy 

Kathe Newman, PhD (Co-Project Lead/Co-Principal Investigator) 

Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy 

Will Payne, PhD (Co-Project Lead/Co-Principal Investigator) 

Assistant Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy 

Lauren Nolan, (Senior Researcher)

Doctoral Candidate, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Shiloh Deitz, (Senior Researcher)

Postdoctoral Associate, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Joel C. Cantor, Sc.D. (Senior Advisor)

Director, Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, Institute for Health
Distinguished Professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy