The Need for HER (Homeless Engagement Response) Teams

As the number of women counted as homeless continues to increase
each year in California, so must our (HER) homeless engagement response

• HER Teams must be skilled at integrating a trauma-informed approach into street outreach and engagement activities;
• HER Teams must recognize that both past and present trauma impact the ability of women languishing on the streets to connect and engage effectively in services;
• HER Teams must understand that the lasting effects of trauma and the fear of re-traumatization also keep women in a constant state of survival, preventing them from effectively prioritizing and taking the steps necessary to exit homelessness. This cycle may seem counterintuitive to the average person, yet it remains a significant barrier to housing and achieving long-term stability.
• HER Teams must ensure that both service delivery programs and women living in a constant state of survival on the streets know and understand that HER Team members are committed to the basic assumptions of trauma-informed care in service delivery:

• • safety; trustworthiness and transparency;
  • peer support; collaboration and mutuality;
  • empowerment, voice, and choice; and,
  • cultural, historical, and gender sensitivity.

The number of women who were counted as unsheltered by California’s 44 Continuums of Care (CoCs) throughout the state during the last 10 years has significantly increased, according to California Point-in-Time (PIT) homeless count data, as noted in the chart below.

Note: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) notes that unsheltered girls should be included. Thus, a 16-year-old girl should be counted with unsheltered women aged 18 and older.

Since 2019, the total number of women who are unsheltered has exceeded 30,000 with the numbers increasing each year compared to the previous one.

It is important to note that HUD does not require CoCs to conduct an unsheltered count every year, only a sheltered count every year. HUD requires CoCs to conduct an unsheltered count every other year. However, the majority of California’s CoCs do conduct an unsheltered count every year.  In 2024, 37 of California’s 44 CoCs conducted an unsheltered count. When a CoC does not conduct an unsheltered count, HUD publicly records their unsheltered count from the previous year. Therefore, the unsheltered count for seven California CoCs in 2024 is the same as their unsheltered count in 2023 and thus the same for unsheltered women.

Tables 1 through 3 show the total number of unsheltered women for each of the three Continuum of Care regions in 2024. Approximately one-third (31.6%) of the total number of 35,999 women were counted by Northern CA CoCs, 10.9% were counted by Central CA CoCs, and Southern CA CoCs counted more than half (57.4%).

Click here to see a map of California’s CoCs by region.

Table 1 shows that the total number of unsheltered women counted by each CoC in Northern California in 2024 totaled 11,384, which represents approximately one-third (31.6%) of the total number of 35,999 women counted by all California CoCs.

Table 2 shows that the number of unsheltered women counted by each CoC in Central California in 2024 totaled 3,950, which represents 10.9% of the total number of 35,999 women counted by all CA CoCs.

Table 3 shows that the number of unsheltered women counted by each CoC in Southern California in 2024 totaled 20,665, which represents more than half (57.4%) of the total number of 35,999 women counted by all CA CoCs.

We have yet to see if the current trend continues in 2025. The 2025 homeless count was completed by CoCs earlier this year. Historically, HUD does not publicly release the count results until late fall. 

HER (Homeless Engagement Response) Teams

Over the years at Urban Initiatives, we have identified the need for HER (Homeless Engagement Response) Teams as street outreach and engagement teams dedicated to identifying and supporting women experiencing homelessness. These teams engage women living in abandoned buildings, encampments, makeshift shelters, tents, and vehicles, as well as those exposed on sidewalks, in parks, parking lots, and other places not meant for human habitation. HER Teams are particularly skilled at identifying and engaging women who are chronically homeless, especially those languishing on the streets and facing increasing vulnerability to illness, injury, and death. Their expertise ensures that women in crisis receive targeted support and pathways to stability.

Effective Legislation Assisting Women

Effective legislation for assisting women experiencing homelessness includes SB 914 HELP (Homeless Equity for Left Behind Populations) Act. The bill requires the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to set and measure progress toward goals to prevent and end homelessness among domestic violence survivors and their children and among unaccompanied women in California”,” which are described “”as women, 18 years of age and older, who are experiencing homelessness while not in the company of children or other dependents“.”

The goals stated within the legislation include:

• Measurably decreasing the number of domestic violence survivors and their children and of unaccompanied women experiencing homelessness in the state.
• Decreasing the duration and frequency of experiences of homelessness among domestic violence survivors and their children and among unaccompanied women.
• Decreasing barriers to services through promoting cross-systems partnerships to expedite access to services, including social services, domestic violence services, regional center services, housing services, and mental health services.

SB 914 acknowledges that there is an extremely high incidence of trauma, whether physical, sexual, or psychological in nature, that is compounded by their ongoing houselessness.

To advance the California legislative goals outlined above, CoCs should fully integrate and implement the HER Team approach into their existing street outreach and engagement efforts. This strategy enhances the effectiveness of connecting women to essential services and housing while actively dismantling the misconception of “social service resistance”—particularly in cases of severe trauma.

Effective Community Engagement

During a recent meeting, the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) emphasized its commitment to effective community engagement for women, drawing insights from focus groups with survivors of domestic violence and unaccompanied women, stakeholder engagement sessions with service providers and administrators, and key informant interviews. These discussions led to actionable solutions addressing barriers to shelters, access to services, and staff training, including:

• Provide greater oversight of safety in shelters;
• In-depth training in trauma-informed care for shelter staff;
• Create survivor-centered online and in-person service navigation tools and resource repositories;
• Streamline referral process;
• Improve training for providers on services and resources needed by and available for survivors and unaccompanied women;
• Provide training and education in gender-based violence, gender identity and intersectionality; and
• Increase DV-informed, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive training across all systems that support people experiencing homelessness.

Effective HER Teams Are Trauma-Informed

Creating effective HER Teams requires equipping all team members with the skills to seamlessly integrate a trauma-informed approach into their street outreach and engagement activities and efforts. This ensures that women receive the support needed to obtain and secure temporary and/or permanent housing. All team members must also recognize that past and present trauma significantly impact the ability of women languishing on the streets to overcome their homelessness experience.

Effective HER Team members must recognize that homelessness itself is a traumatic experience that plunges individuals into a constant state of survival. Women living in survival mode often struggle to focus on long-term solutions to end their homelessness. At best, their priority is simply making it through the next 24 hours, rather than planning for stability.

Effective HER Team members recognize that for women experiencing homelessness, doing what it takes to secure temporary or permanent housing may not always seem like the most immediate choice or viable option. Women experiencing homelessness are likely in survival mode and focusing on getting through the next day, week, or month often takes precedence over long-term solutions.

Effective HER Team members must recognize that women in survival mode react to nearly every situation rather than proactively planning. They exist in a constant state of crisis, which can shift between subtle and overt throughout the day, making long-term decision-making incredibly challenging.

For many women, living in survival mode is a reactionary response driven by a fear of re-traumatization. The prospect of failure in obtaining housing can mirror past trauma, evoking feelings of lost choice, loss of control, or inadequate personal care. Repeated disruptions—canceled meetings, rescheduled appointments, and unpredictable setbacks—can indeed reinforce a sense of failure. The constant struggle to stay one step ahead, reacting rather than planning, with no margin for error, may also bring about or trigger the emotional toll of past trauma.

Living in survival mode on the street, rather than taking steps to secure temporary or permanent housing, may seem counterintuitive to the average person. For this reason, establishing a trauma-informed framework is crucial for understanding the daily reality of women experiencing unsheltered homelessness. By integrating a trauma-informed approach, we can better support women experiencing homelessness in transitioning from survival to stability, ensuring that the path to housing is both accessible and effective.

Path Forward

As we have noted over the years, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has long established a standard framework for understanding trauma and implementing a trauma-informed approach within behavioral health specialty sectors. Adopting this framework is essential to ensuring the effectiveness of HER Teams, enabling them to provide informed, compassionate, and impactful support.

SAMSHA’s work has generated the following definition of trauma:

Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.

SAMHSA’s trauma-informed approach is built on four key assumptions and guided by six fundamental principles. These elements form the foundation for understanding trauma and implementing effective, compassionate care across various service sectors.

Four Assumptions

SAMHSA’s four assumptions have driven a growing number of organizations and service systems to explore ways to enhance their responsiveness to individuals who have experienced trauma. A program, organization, or system takes into account the following:

The four key assumptions have driven a growing number of organizations and service systems to enhance their responsiveness to individuals who have experienced trauma. A trauma-informed program, organization, or system:

1. Realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery;
2. Recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system;
3. Responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices; and
4. Seeks to actively resist re-traumatization.

This framework ensures that services are compassionate, effective, and supportive for those affected by trauma.

The four assumptions are described in SAMHSA’s report on pages 9 and 10.

Six Key Principles

SAMSHA has noted that,

A trauma-informed approach reflects adherence to six key principles rather than a prescribed set of practices or procedures. These principles may be generalizable across multiple types of settings, although terminology and application may be setting- or sector-specific.

The six key principles are listed below and described in SAMHSA’s report on page 11.

1. Safety;
2. Trustworthiness and Transparency;
3. Peer Support;
4. Collaboration and Mutuality;
5. Empowerment, Voice, and Choice; and
6. Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues.

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness promoted SAMHSA’s framework for understanding trauma and developing and implementing a trauma-informed approach, and so has the Homelessness Learning Lab in Canada, see Trauma-Informed Care – Homelessness Learning Hub.

The path forward involves creating dedicated HER Teams or ensuring that existing street outreach and engagement teams are nimble enough to form HER Teams. This can be achieved by integrating members from different teams to enhance responsiveness and effectiveness in supporting women experiencing homelessness.  Such teams,

• Develop expertise and are skilled at integrating a trauma-informed approach into their street outreach and engagement activities;
• Recognize that both past and present trauma impact the ability of women languishing on the streets to connect and engage effectively in services;
• Understand that the lasting effects of trauma and the fear of re-traumatization also keep women in a constant state of survival, preventing them from effectively prioritizing and taking the steps necessary to exit homelessness. This cycle may seem counterintuitive to the average person, yet it remains a significant barrier to housing and achieving long-term stability;
• Ensure that both service delivery programs and women living in a constant state of survival on the streets know and understand that HER Team members are committed to the basic assumptions of trauma-informed care in service delivery:
  • safety; trustworthiness and transparency;
  • peer support; collaboration and mutuality;
  • empowerment, voice, and choice; and,
  • cultural, historical, and gender sensitivity.

Through an abiding commitment to trauma-informed care, service delivery programs and HER Teams can help women take the necessary steps to secure and maintain permanent housing, fostering stability and long-term well-being.