Gender Differences in Reasons for Entering and Time in the Coordinated Entry System Among Unaccompanied Adults: A Community Analysis Within the United States

J Community Psychol. 2025 May;53(4):e70017. doi: 10.1002/jcop.70017.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: Knowledge about unaccompanied women experiencing homelessness in the US remains scant. This study used a feminization of homelessness framework to compare time that unaccompanied women and men spent in the coordinated entry system (US process for housing service prioritization and allocation) based on reasons for entering homelessness.

METHODS: Bivariate tests and negative binomial models were run using data for persons within one southern U.S. community in 2022 (N = 3,258).

RESULTS: Women spent 232 mean days less in the system than men, and more entered homelessness due to unaffordable housing, eviction, and domestic violence; men entered due to institutional discharge, substance abuse, or job loss. For women, domestic violence predicted less time; substance abuse or being Black predicted more. For men, job loss, mental illness, being Black, or having a disability predicted longer time.

CONCLUSION: Results underscore the benefits of women-centered trauma-responsive housing, and prioritizing job training and mental healthcare for men. Universally, structural inequalities and racial discrimination are the backdrop of unaccompanied homelessness.

PMID:40349361 | DOI:10.1002/jcop.70017