Social Services

What Is Supportive Housing?
Supportive housing combines affordable housing with social services providers to help people experiencing homelessness, disability, or other hardships transition to permanent housing.

How Urban Design Can Promote Social Equity
More inclusive urban design can help more people access social services and public amenities.

Assessing California's Homekey Program
The innovative housing program launched during the pandemic has made a significant difference for unhoused individuals, but long-term support remains underfunded.

UC Berkeley Commits to Supportive Housing Project in People's Park
The university will work with the city and local nonprofits to provide 42 units of housing and supportive services to unhoused people living in Berkeley's iconic People's Park.

More Unhoused New Yorkers Died in 2021 Than in any Prior Year
New York City saw its deadliest year for people living in shelters or public spaces, with the pandemic and a rise in deadly overdoses fueling a fatal epidemic.

Mobile Social Services Address Gaps in Suburban Colorado
In the Denver suburb of Aurora, nonprofits are using 'mobile public spaces' to reach refugees settling in the autocentric community.

Where Mayors Want to Spend Federal Aid
An annual survey reveals that mayors want to prioritize spending federal funding on homelessness, transportation, and social services.

Pre-Fab Tiny Home Village Takes Shape in L.A.
Along with communal showers and bathrooms, the village will also include laundry, storage facilities, and offices for social service providers.

A New—and Hopefully Better—Way to Deal with the Homeless Crisis on the N.Y.C. Subway
More homeless people are using the subway as temporary housing, and the delays and disruptions have increased as well. A new city program will replace fines with outreach to provide better access to social services.

SROs Are Getting People Off the Streets in Portland
Single-room-occupancy hotels are providing much-needed affordable housing for the city’s most vulnerable residents.
Pittsburgh Suburbs Struggle with Growing Poverty Rates
The new paradigm of poverty is playing out in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: the majority of individuals in poverty live the suburbs, where the impacts of poverty are harder to identify.
Trend Towards Engagement Transforms America's Public Housing
Public housing models in the U.S. are becoming more community-oriented and taking varying demographics into account during the design process. Engagement with the street, the neighborhood, and social services are creating new design typologies.
Shrinking and Aging Population Poses Problems for Germany
Emigration is up and the birth rate is dropping in Germany, where people are starting to worry about what a shrinking and aging population will mean for the country's future.
Infrastructure Spending Expected to Rise in Stimulus Year Two
About one-third of the federal government's $787 billion economic stimulus has actually been spent over the last year. During the next year, much of the focus of the remainder will be on infrastructure projects.
Exporting the Impoverished
The City of New York has been spending thousands of dollars to send people out of the city -- opting to pay for one-way plane tickets instead of providing social services.
Economic Troubles for Low-Income Families ... and the Services They Depend On
This piece from Color Lines looks at how the economic downturn is affecting low-income populations, and how social services are having trouble keeping up with an increasing demand for help.
City of Madera
City of Santa Clarita
Borough of Carlisle
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Colorado Energy Office
Pima County Community College District
City of Piedmont, CA
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.