How Do Housing First Caseworkers Mediate Landlord-Tenant Conflicts?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Housing First (HF) is a service model that addresses chronic homelessness with permanent supportive housing. Previous studies have analysed market constraints on housing searches, strategies caseworkers use to navigate these barriers, and clinical interventions that help clients transition to unsupported housing. Little research has examined the nuanced ways caseworkers mediate landlord-tenant conflicts once a lease has been formed. I advance those studies by answering the question: How do HF caseworkers mediate landlord-tenant conflicts? Using interview and focus group data collected in a large U.S. County, I provide evidence that HF caseworkers mediate landlord-tenant conflicts by managing “enforcement costs” throughout the lease. Enforcement costs are (non-)financial expenditures beyond the price of a commodity to ensure co-signers honour their contractual obligations. HF caseworkers manage enforcement costs by absorbing them for landlords and/or tenants throughout the lease. When caseworkers cannot or will not absorb enforcement costs, they are keen to delegate this responsibility to other parties. Absorption and delegation can help rebalance power inequities and/or undermine the reputation of HF programmes.