Sydney Constantini, Bocconi University & UBC

"Housing First or Treatment First? Evidence from the VA's homelessness programs"

Abstract:
Debates in homelessness policy often pit Housing First programs, in which subsidized housing is offered unconditionally and immediately, against Treatment First interventions, which combine short-term housing with treatment for issues like substance use. I study a national sample of nearly 300,000 unhoused, mentally ill Veterans who are potentially eligible for the VA's Housing First program (known as HUD-VASH or VA Supportive Housing) or for a Treatment First program (offered by a variety of local contractors). Using an instrumental variables design, I find that enrolling in Housing First reduces three-year mortality by 4.6 percentage points relative to a no-program counterfactual. In contrast, Treatment First has no long-term effects on health. Housing First is also cost-saving relative to Treatment First, as it causes individuals to substitute away from lengthy inpatient stays.

Sydney Constantini is a postdoctoral fellow at Bocconi University IGIER. I received my PhD in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2026. My research focuses on topics in public, labor, and political economics, with a particular interest in access to and engagement with the social safety net, especially healthcare and housing.

You can read about Sydney Constantini here

CEBI contact: N. Meltem Daysal