Funding Health Care for People Experiencing Homelessness: An Examination of Federally Qualified Health Centers’ Funding Streams and Homeless Patients Served (2014–2019)

Dr. Marcus Lam

Dr. Marcus Lam
Associate Professor
School of Leadership and Education Sciences
Department of Leadership
University of San Diego

Dr. Nathan Grasse
Associate Professor
School of Public Policy & Administration
Carleton University

Funding Health Care for People Experiencing Homelessness: An Examination of Federally Qualified Health Centers’ Funding Streams and Homeless Patients Served (2014–2019)
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(7) | June 2024

Abstract
It is estimated that three million people annually experience homelessness, with about a third of the homeless population being served by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Thus, FQHCs, dependent on government funding for financial viability, are vital to the infrastructure addressing the complex issues facing people experiencing homelessness. This study examines the relationship between various government funding streams and the number of homeless patients served by FQHCs. Data for this study come from three publicly available databases: the Uniform Data System (UDS), the IRS Core files, and the Area Resource File. Fixed-effects models employed examine changes across six years from 2014 to 2019. The results suggest that, on average, an additional homeless patient served increases the expenses of FQHCs more than other patients and that federal funding, specifically Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) funding, is a vital revenue source for FQHCs. We found that the number of homeless patients served is negatively associated with contemporaneous state and local funding but positively associated with substance use and anxiety disorders. Our findings have important implications for the effective management of FQHCs in the long term and for broader public policy supporting these vital elements of the social safety net.

Introduction
Homelessness is an intractable issue that requires interventions at multiple levels. At the macro level, public policies and elected officials are critical to driving government funding and public opinion to bring awareness to the homelessness problem and the subsequent consequences of inaction. At the micro level, interventions by social workers and medical professionals that help homeless persons find shelter and receive health care are critical to short-term survival and care. At the meso level, community-based not-for-profit organizations (NPOs) that employ medical professionals, social workers, and other frontline workers are an often overlooked but essential component of the multi-pronged solution to providing vital health, social, and shelter services to people experiencing homelessness.

Marcus Lam’s research focuses on identifying strategies for the sustainability of health and human service nonprofit organizations. Specifically, his program of research advances two interrelated domains: 1) the effect of organizational and environmental factors on nonprofit sustainable resources and 2) the influence of resources on organizational programs, services, and client outcomes. Prior to joining SOLES, Dr. Lam was on faculty at the Columbia School of Social Work in New York City. Dr. Lam has also served as a senior research associate at the UCLA Center for Civil Society and has published reports on the state of the nonprofit sector in Los Angeles, the state of arts and culture funding in Los Angeles, as well as methodological chapters in the Global Civil Society Yearbook. He has also held fellowship positions with the Nonprofit Finance Fund, Los Angeles Program and EMES European Research Network on social enterprises and the social economy.

Nathan Grasse is an Associate Professor in the Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL) program at Carleton University. He holds a Bachelor of Science (BS), a Master of Public Administration (MPA), and a PhD in Political Science, all from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, United States. His academic focus primarily revolves around the governance of public-serving organizations, highlighting the connections between governance and financial management. This encompasses a detailed study of revenue structures, the influence of organizational and environmental factors, and how strategic choices impact financial health and other organizational outcomes.

Dr. Grasse’s expertise includes nonprofit finance and financial management, governance and leadership, and strategic management. He emphasizes the critical role of charities in addressing social issues, enhancing representation, and delivering services in communities. Recognizing the challenges these organizations face in financial management and governance, particularly due to a reliance on historical or anecdotal information, his work aims to expand knowledge in these areas. This focus is vital for the effective management of charitable organizations, providing them with more robust frameworks and guidelines to improve their decision-making processes.

By |2024-07-24T10:24:26-04:00July 24th, 2024|NACC Member Research|

The Contributions of Community-Led Newspapers to the Resilience of Rio’s Maré and Rocinha Favelas During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Vanessa Guerra
Assistant Professor in Urban and Environmental Planning
School of Architecture
University of Virginia

Dr. Max O. Stephenson, Jr.

Dr. Max O. Stephenson, Jr.
Professor, Urban Affairs and Planning (UAP)
Director, Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance
School of Public and International Affairs
Virginia Tech

Desirée Poets
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Core Faculty of the Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought
(ASPECT) PhD Program

Molly Todd

Molly Todd
Teaching Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology and the International Affairs Program
University of Colorado Boulder

The Contributions of Community-Led Newspapers to the Resilience of Rio’s Maré and Rocinha Favelas During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Vanessa Guerra, Max Stephenson, Desirée Poets, and Molly F. Todd
Journal of Urban Affairs
| June 2024

This article explores how two community-led newspapers in Maré and Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, promoted social resilience in their respective favelas during the first 6 months of COVID-19. We reviewed stories published in both newspapers and interviewed a sample of their journalists to investigate the newspapers’ responses to the pandemic’s effects, government policies (or lack thereof), and resident reactions to evolving virus-related risks during our study period. We employed Keck and Sakdapolrak’s social resilience framework to examine our data and found that the newspapers contributed significantly to the resilience of both communities during our study period. Contrary to the neoliberal view of resilience as self-reliance, these newspapers sought instead to encourage sustained collective agency and to challenge oppressive governance through generative activities and advocacy. Our findings deepen understanding of the role of community-organized activities in marginalized populations’ struggles to assert their right to the city, particularly during crises.

Vanessa Guerra is an assistant professor in Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture. She focuses her research, teaching, and practice on urban interventions that promote social inclusion and sustainable development in cities and regions. Her research interests include urban informality, urban resilience, inclusive cities, spatial justice, coproduction, and cognitive urbanism. Prior to her position at UVA, she served as a research associate and Interim Program Director of Rhizome LLC at Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies and as a consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Max O. Stephenson, Jr. serves as a professor in the Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA). With a distinguished career in public policy, civil society studies and public administration, he also serves as the Director of the Institute for Policy and Governance. He holds a Ph.D. in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. Dr. Stephenson’s research interests include civil society, democratic governance and political agency, and social equity and social change, reflected in his extensive publication record and numerous academic contributions. He is recognized for his interdisciplinary approach, integrating constructs from political science, public administration, and community development to address complex social challenges.

Desirée Poets is Assistant Professor of Political Science and a core faculty of the Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought (ASPECT) PhD Program. Through ethnographically informed, creative, and collaborative methods, Poets has been working with urban Indigenous, favela, and maroon (in Portuguese, quilombola) communities and movements in Brazil’s Southeast Region since 2013. Her research focuses on settler colonial, postcolonial, and dependency theories in Latin America; urban (de-)militarization; arts, collective memory and community change, and questions of gender, ethnicity, class, and race.

Molly Todd is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and the International Affairs Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. She earned her PhD in 2023 from the interdisciplinary ASPECT program at Virginia Tech, where her research focused on community-engaged art and borders in the Americas. Her research employs collaborative methods across sites in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States to observe & participate in the ways that artistic production navigates and shapes border politics and their imaginaries. She has published several articles reflecting these efforts, as well as a chapter in the edited volume Maré from the Inside: Art, Culture, and Politics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (VT Publishing 2021).

By |2024-07-24T10:22:21-04:00July 24th, 2024|NACC Member Research|

Nonprofit Human Resources: Crisis Impacts and Mitigation Strategies

Sarah L. Young

Sarah L. Young
Professor of Public Administration
Director of Research, KSU CARES
Kennesaw State University

Kimberly K. Wiley
Assistant Professor
University of Florida

Dr. Elizabeth A. M. Searing

Dr. Elizabeth A. M. Searing
Assistant Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management
School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences
University of Texas at Dallas

Nonprofit Human Resources: Crisis Impacts and Mitigation Strategies
Sarah L. Young, Kimberly K. Wiley, and Elizabeth A. M. Searing
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
| May 2024

This study empirically evaluates the relationships between the state and human service nonprofits’ human resources during a crisis. We employ qualitative content analysis to critically assess the experiences of 31 nonprofits that experienced the 2015 to 2017 Illinois Budget Impasse. We evaluated the nonprofits’ strategic human resource management implications through a resource dependency lens at three levels: micro-, meso-, and macro-. Human service nonprofits pull from a toolbox of strategies in surprising ways. Strategy choices were intrinsically linked to the impacts experienced by the individual workers (micro-) and organization (meso-). Micro-level impacts included additional emotional labor and reduced benefits, while meso-level impacts included loss of capacity and short-term planning changes. Finally, the sector-level impacts included a multipronged brain drain of the nonprofit human resource industry. The findings are helpful for nonprofit employees, managers, policymakers, and anyone concerned about the delivery of social services by nonprofits during crises.

Dr. Sarah L. Young, Professor of Public Administration at Kennesaw State University, serves as the Director of Research for CARE Services, a campus support program for students who have experienced foster care or unaccompanied homelessness. Her research uses systems-based approaches to study the intersection of nonprofit, public management, and equity, especially during periods of crisis. Dr. Young earned her Ph.D. from Florida State University’s Askew School of Public Administration and Policy and her M.B.A. in nonprofit management from the University of Tampa Sykes College of Business. She is the co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Affairs Education and serves on the editorial board of Teaching Public Administration.

Dr. Kimberly Wiley researches the relationship between nonprofit organizations and their public funders as well as qualitative methodology. She is particularly interested in domestic violence advocacy organizations serving families and youth. Though, she also enjoys testing new qualitative methods on data like social media and television. She won several awards for her work on faculty sexual misconduct and nonprofits in crisis. Her scholarship has been published in Nonprofit Management & Leadership, Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Public Administration, Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, and Public Policy & Administration.

Dr. Elizabeth A. M. Searing is an Assistant Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management at the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Searing’s primary research focus is the financial management of nonprofit and social enterprise organizations, but she also conducts work on comparative social economy more broadly. She is an Associate Editor and editorial board member of Nonprofit Management & Leadership, and an editorial advisory board member at VOLUNTAS and the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management (JPBAFM). Her articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, and Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.

By |2024-07-24T10:19:53-04:00July 24th, 2024|NACC Member Research|

Greetings from the Executive Director: July 2024

Nicole Collier, NACC Executive Director

Nicole Collier, MPSA
Executive Director, NACC
Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy
Bush School of Government and Public Service
Texas A&M University

And just like that, summer is almost over!

It’s hard to believe that August is at our doorstep when I have barely recovered from commencement ceremonies in early May. As many of you have experienced, academic life seems to be stating, “Next month will be calmer” or “Things will be calmer in the summer so I can catch up” over and over. And this year has been no different.

In that spirit, I’m going to be keeping this one super short. There’s so much to do, and so little time to do it!

Even though it has been a busy summer, NACC won’t be slowing down any time soon! As many programs prepare to welcome a new class of students, we will be preparing to welcome our fall class of Nu Lambda Mu, preparing for our annual member meeting at ARNOVA’s conference, and getting ready for NACC’s 2025 conference. Keep an eye out here and on our website to see the latest for those upcoming events and more!

This coming month also marks a change for NACC. Joshua Carley, who has been serving as our student program coordinator for almost two years, will be leaving to start their new role at Boston University! While I am thrilled for them, it’s going to be hard saying goodbye and finding someone to fill their shoes. Carley approached their work with dedication and professionalism. I know Boston University is going to benefit immensely from his skills, and I also know that NACC has been made better by having them be part of our organization. Best of luck, Carley!

Wishing you all the best!
Nicole Collier

By |2024-07-24T10:17:47-04:00July 24th, 2024|Executive Director's Report|
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