This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, evaluates the feasibility of a multi-sector “Functional Zero” approach to reducing homelessness among fathers in Atlanta, with a focus on Black fathers who are disproportionately represented among homeless populations. The study builds from an existing multi-sector coalition of leaders from medical, social and public health sectors who have formed Fathers Matter ATL to address the unmet health and social needs of homeless fathers, including forms of structural racism that limit the availability of housing options for homeless men with dependent children.

This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, tests the feasibility of an integrated system of medical, social and public health programming designed to improve outcomes for youth experiencing homelessness in Hennepin County, Minnesota. The study organizes community-engaged consensus building sessions with stakeholders from medical, social and public health systems and with youth experiencing homelessness in order to co-create strategies for system alignment, including multi-sector data integration, shared clinical practice guidelines, and co-location of health and social services for youth experiencing homelessness.