Engagement in outreach services among persons experiencing unsheltered homelessness in a Southwestern Urban County: A spatial study

Abstract This study explored how engagement in street outreach services is impacted by the locations where structurally vulnerable individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness enroll. Logistic regression models were applied to 2022 outreach service contact data to analyze spatial concentrations of engagement across 11 location types. The highest spatial concentration of outreach service contacts occurred in the downtown area of an urban city. Results showed that gender, race, and ethnicity moderated the relationship between engagement and locations where contacts occurred. Among racial and ethnic groups, American Indian/Alaska Native/Indigenous and Hispanic/Latino clients had significantly lower odds of outreach service contacts near the downtown area compared to White clients. In comparison, Black/African American/African and Asian/Asian American clients had higher odds. Additionally, Black/African American/African women had lower odds of outreach service contacts near the downtown area compared to White women. Women had higher odds of contacts near motels than men. High utilizers of outreach services had higher odds of contacts near the downtown area, with gender and race moderating this relationship. Spatial analysis is a novel approach to understanding geographic context where structurally affected individuals engage in services. These findings highlight the need to tailor outreach strategies better to serve diverse populations in different geographic contexts.