Homelessness has surged globally, driven by socioeconomic shocks such as the COVID‑19 pandemic, internal and external migration, rising housing unaffordability, and unequal labor markets. While its scale and manifestations vary across countries and regions, homelessness has become a shared challenge across cities and metropolitan areas worldwide—placing growing pressure on already fiscally constrained public systems with competing spending priorities.
Addressing homelessness requires more than temporary solutions. Restoring opportunities for people experiencing homelessness calls for integrated responses—responses that strong social protection systems are uniquely positioned to deliver. By connecting social services, housing, and employment pathways, social protection systems can support not only immediate stabilization, but also long‑term inclusion that promotes self‑sufficiency and sustainable exits from homelessness.
Yet such integrated responses are often weak or missing, making lasting exits from homelessness difficult. For cities and metropolitan areas, the challenge is therefore not only how to provide shelter, but how to create pathways back to stability, autonomy, and productive lives—pathways that hinge on social protection systems capable of connecting all the services people need, including access to jobs. Experiences from Bogotá, Colombia, and São Paulo, Brazil, illustrate what is possible when these systems work well.
“You were not born to be average. You were born to be strong, you were born to create,” says Jonathan, a 35‑year‑old man in Bogotá.
Jonathan shared these words shortly after graduating from high school with the highest score ever recorded in his flexible education program.
While experiencing homelessness, Jonathan faced profound barriers to exercising his basic rights. His greatest challenge was not only finding a safe place to sleep, but reconnecting with opportunities to learn, work, and regain economic independence. Through active outreach by the Secretaría Distrital de Integración Social (SDIS), he was connected to a care center that provided temporary housing, food, hygiene facilities, and health and psychosocial support—essential first steps toward stability. With continued support from SDIS, Jonathan completed high school through a flexible education program. Today, he is pursuing access to higher education as a pathway to better job opportunities.
Elaine’s story in São Paulo highlights how timely, coordinated support—particularly when employment opportunities are part of the response—can prevent homelessness altogether. Upon arriving in the city, Elaine sought assistance from the Centro de Referência de Assistência Social (CRAS). Within a week, she was admitted to a furnished studio at Vila Reencontro through the intervention of the Secretaria Municipal de Assistência e Desenvolvimento Social (SMADS). There, she received daily meals and encouragement to return to school. With the stability this support provided, Elaine secured two jobs and began purchasing furniture for the home she plans to move into independently.
These two stories point to a shared lesson: housing alone is not sufficient to ensure a sustainable pathway out of homelessness. People experiencing homelessness also need access to complementary benefits and services—such as documentation, education, and employment opportunities—to rebuild their lives and achieve lasting social inclusion.
Since 2024, the World Bank has been working with cities such as São Paulo and Bogotá, alongside research institutions in Brazil, to better understand how social policies can help people experiencing homelessness reconnect with services and employment. This work highlights a key message: strong social protection systems can enable the essential connections across services and institutions that people experiencing homelessness need. As part of this effort, the World Bank has also documented international experiences (see document here) to help cities strengthen their policies and service ecosystems, and looks forward to supporting additional cities seeking to build stronger links between social protection systems and strategies to prevent and address homelessness.
Several additional lessons emerge from the experiences of Jonathan and Elaine, as well as from the review of global practices:
Act early to prevent homelessness.
Elaine’s story shows that timely support can prevent homelessness before it begins. Early intervention is often more effective—and less costly—than responding once people have already lost stable housing.
Connect people to the right support through coordinated case management.
Jonathan’s progress depended on being linked simultaneously to education, housing, and social services. Personalized case management helps ensure that people receive the right support at the right time, reducing fragmentation and improving outcomes.
Invest in training and employment pathways.
Access to education, skills training, and employment opportunities is essential for lasting exits from homelessness. Policies that support job readiness, vocational training, and connections to employers help individuals rebuild skills and regain economic independence.
Link housing solutions to employment opportunities.
Stable housing allowed both Jonathan and Elaine to focus on education and work. By providing safety and peace of mind, housing enables people to invest their energy in generating income—an essential condition for sustainable exits from homelessness.
Build policies on strong data systems.
Because CRAS had good information about Elaine and her household, staff were able to connect her quickly to services tailored to her needs. Reliable data systems and social registries help cities understand demand, coordinate responses, and identify barriers that prevent people experiencing homelessness from accessing support.
Strengthen governance and financing for sustained impact.
Effective homelessness policies depend on clear cross‑sector coordination, stable financing, and governance arrangements that allow programs to operate at scale and adapt over time. The success of SMADS in São Paulo and SDIS in Bogotá reflects not only technology or service delivery capacity, but also strong, committed teams with clear public mandates—teams that connect people not just to services, but to real pathways of opportunity.
Homelessness is a form of exclusion experienced when family, community, and institutions fail to provide support. But it is not inevitable. With strong, well‑coordinated social protection systems, cities can protect dignity, rebuild human capital, and open pathways to stable housing, education, and productive work.
read more: https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/latinamerica/social-protection-pathways-beyond-homelessness
