Paper Topic Ideas

Homelessness in Portland

Every term we work with many students who are interested in writing papers about homelessness in Portland.  "Homelessness" on it's own is a very broad topic and will need to be narrowed down.  I thought I'd take a minute to brainstorm some narrower topics related to this topic and link to some resources for research.  

A sampling of potential topic ideas:

• What are solutions to homelessness that have been effective in other cities?
• What is the relationship between gentrification and homelessness?  Between housing affordability and homelessness?
• Homelessness and law enforcement: What laws exist around homelessness?  
  • Evaluate the impact of different kinds of laws, eg. Sit/Lie bans or Porltand's "Safe Sleep" policy
• Why is Portland's homeless rate so high?  What interventions has Portland attempted to alleviate homelessness?
• Explore how unhoused people are vulnerable to crime
• What organizations exist in Portland to serve/help unhoused people?  How effective are they?  How do they differ from one another?  
• Explore healthcare and homelessness:  eg. the unhoused as a medically vulnerable community, wound care and homelessness, mental illness and homelessness, the economic impact on the healthcare system of emergency care for the unhoused, etc.
• Examine the tensions between homeowners/neighborhood associations and the unhoused 
• Discuss "housing first" programs -- their history, their use in other cities/counties, their effectiveness
• Homelessness in different populations: veterans, women, families, children/youth, LGBTQI+, by race.  
• Homelessness and housing insecurity among college students
• The role of public libraries in serving the unmet needs of the unhoused
• Public attitudes about homelessness:  what are they?  what influences them?  how do attitudes affect policy?

Some Portland/Oregon specific resources

Sometimes it can be frustrating searching for high quality information about homelessness in Portland using our library databases because there aren't that many articles that focus on our local issues.  Below are some good resources to check out for our area:

City/County Government Resources

City of Portland Homelessness Toolkit

Multnomah County Joint Office for Homelessness

A Home for Everyone - partnership between city, county, and non-profit organizations

Other resources

City Club of Portland, Health Care Reform & Homelessness in Multnomah County Published in the City Club of Portland Bulletin, Vol. 97, No. 10, January 6, 2015

ECONorthwest. (2019). Homelessness in Oregon: A Review of Trends, Causes, and Policy Options The Oregon Community Foundation FINAL REPORT. Retrieved from https://oregoncf.org/Templates/media/files/reports/OregonHomelessness.pdf  

Portland Monthly magazine articles about homelessness

Street Roots Newspaper

Willamette Week articles about homelessness

Are you experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness?

Please contact your campus ASPCC office.  ASPCC has many resources to help students including emergency grants/loans and free resources like the Panther Pantry for food, the Panther Closet for clothes, and emergency bus tickets.  They can also help connect you with campus resource centers like the QRC, the Women's Resource Center, the Veteran's Resource Center, and the Multicultural Center.