In 2023, the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab (GPL) began working with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to support them in better connecting Latino people experiencing homelessness with services. The GPL surveyed and interviewed front-line staff to identify the barriers that Latino people experiencing homelessness encounter in accessing services and resources.
This research surfaced significant barriers, but it also highlighted the following two promising strategies shaped by front-line staff experience: 1) Integrate cultural responsiveness into service delivery, and 2) Use language that invites engagement. Drawing on these insights, the GPL developed two tools that leaders in homelessness systems can use as starting points to improve access to system resources among Latino communities.
Tool 1: Training and Resource Guide for Culturally Responsive Service Engagement
Tool 2: Spanish Glossary for Accessible and Inviting Service Delivery
De La Vega C, Doyle, L. Where systems meet people: Closing the engagement gap for Latino people experiencing homelessness. Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab. 2026. Available online.
University of San Francisco California