A whole host of factors — such as friends, housing and transportation — affect a person’s health and how much they need the social safety net. It’s time the government’s big health insurance programs took this reality into account, some lawmakers and policymakers are starting to argue.

Everyone needs safe, decent, stable housing. For some of the most vulnerable people in America — people with mental illness, chronic health conditions, histories of trauma, and other struggles — a home helps them to get adequate treatment and start on the path toward recovery.

Through the hard work of communities around the country, we now have proof of something that we didn’t before—that ending homelessness is achievable.

We sought to learn more about how state- and locally funded rental assistance programs were created, how they are structured, whom they serve, and how they are funded.

In December 2016, federal and state policymakers examined the intersection of unstable housing and negative health outcomes at a meeting convened in Washington, D.C., by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) with support from The Commonwealth Fund.