Over a half million Americans are currently homeless. What is causing this crisis? And what are the solutions? How do we get the resources to build the housing we need to address the homelessness crisis?

We discuss why services to address mental health and addiction are essential to resolving the homelessness crisis. [ dur: 58mins. ]

* Deborah Padgett is a Professor at NYU Silver School of Social Work. She is the co-author of Housing First: Ending Homelessness, Changing Systems and Transforming Lives, with Benjamin Henwood and Sam Tsemberis, and Homelessness, housing instability and mental health: Making the connections.

* Paul A. Toro is Professor of Psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit. He is the co-author of Research on homelessness and mental health: What we’ve learned from the United States and nations in Europe and Homeless Youth in the United States:Recent Research Findings and Intervention Approaches.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.