Chester County Reaches ‘Functional Zero’ in Chronic Homelessness

This year, Chester County reached a “functional zero” milestone for chronic homelessness.

This means that three or fewer people are experiencing long-term homelessness, a decrease in the typical average of about eleven.

This progress is attributed to a coordinated, data-driven approach launched in 2020 through the Built for Zero initiative, including real-time tracking of individuals, case conferencing, and collaboration among government agencies and nonprofits to connect people with housing and services.  

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Philly’s $25 Million Recovery Collaborative for Unhoused Individuals 

Philadelphia’s Project HOME collaborative is helping individuals experiencing homelessness and opioid addiction transition from repeated emergency room visits into stable recovery programs and housing.

Partnering with major health systems, Project HOME is backed by a $25 million investment and provides coordinated “wraparound” care, which links medical treatment, addiction recovery services, and supportive housing to stabilize individuals with complex health needs.

The goal of this approach is to reduce cyclical hospital visits, increase housing stability, and more effectively address homelessness and substance abuse. 

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PA Restores State Arts Funds for Small Organizations

The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts is reversing a previous funding overhaul excluding smaller organizations.

Pennsylvania Creative Industries has approved a new Spotlight grant program that restores eligibility for organizations with budgets between $10,000-$100,000 and reopens access to state support.

While this change has been welcomed overall, there is some concern over the elimination of regional partnership programs. 



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Nearly Half of Working-Age Adults Had Difficulties Affording Health Care in 2025

According to a recent brief, approximately 46 percent of working-age adults in the nation reported problems affording health care in 2025.

Affordability challenges affected both insured and uninsured individuals, with especially high rates among people with chronic conditions or disabilities, lower incomes, and underserved populations.

The Urban Institute discusses rising costs across the nation and policy changes as well as potential challenges for future affordability. 



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How Can We Improve Noisy Labor Market Data?

Labor market data is critical for policymaking, but due to being incomplete and subject to error and contradictions, it can be unreliable.

To address these potential gaps, researchers have proposed a new approach that combines a large number of labor market indicators into a unified framework, allowing analysts to extract clearer insights into underlying trends like labor demand, supply, and matching dynamics.

Brookings Research discusses how to make labor market analysis more accurate and resilient to help policymakers interpret real-time economic conditions more effectively even when individual data sources are noisy or disrupted.

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These US Cities Are Succeeding in Building Housing Near Transit

Although many cities across the country have adopted transit-oriented development policies to build housing near public transit systems, progress has fallen short of demand.

Some cities have made significant improvements by pairing transit investments with supportive land-use policies, with the aim to increase housing supply in walkable, transit-accessible areas and address affordability and congestion challenges.

Bloomberg Research explores national housing to transportation trends and potential opportunities for success. 



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