Helping precariously housed people get decent jobs can have an immediate impact on reducing the number of homeless people living on the street.

Unemployment and lack of income are by far the most common reasons that homeless individuals living on Los Angeles streets give for being unhoused. Homelessness is an income problem.

The first crucial component is using predictive screening tools to identify individuals who have a high risk of becoming persistently homelessness so that they can be helped as early as possible.

The second crucial component was providing whole-person, heavy-touch help including temporary housing, case management, behavioral health care, education, and support in getting a job.

The effectiveness of fighting homelessness with jobs was demonstrated by the Realization Project.

The report on this project is, The Work Behind Work: Combatting Homelessness with Jobs. It includes a public domain resource library of tools for addressing homelessness as a problem of economic opportunity.