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Margot Kushel MD

@mkushel.bsky.social
1.7K followers 735 following 164 posts

Physician, researcher. Professor of Medicine at UCSF. Director of @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social and UCSF @arcforhealth.bsky.social. Passionate about ending homelessness. Views my own.

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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I can talk about homelessness anywhere, anytime. But, I never thought I would get to talk about it on NPR inspired by a conversation from the RHRI. 🎧 great conversation with host Brittany Luse & Molly Richard PhD (& I still haven’t seen RHORI) @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social www.npr.org/2026/07/15/n...
npr.org
Homelessness is more common than you think. : It's Been a Minute
Who counts as homeless in America?If you ask the Department of Housing and Urban Development, around 750,000 people are homeless in America. If you ask the Department of Education, that number shoots ...
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
It is possible to resolve encampments in a way that listens & responds to the needs & desires of people who live there. This is true for people who live in oversized vehicles. Read our interim report on a Berkeley City encampment resolution. 🧵⬇️⬇️⬇️
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
As anti-immigrant & anti-homeless oppression hit all time highs, it is important to reflect on the experiences of Latine ppl who experience homelessness. Proud of this piece in @plosone.org @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social #CAHomelessStudy journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org
Latino/a experiences of homelessness in California: Qualitative findings from the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH)
The number of Latino/a people experiencing homelessness in the United States is increasing due to increased housing costs, economic disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, and increased homelessness am...
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Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
A Hampton Inn in Asheville just canceled my family's reservation because our address (incorrectly) showed Asheville—and the hotel bars locals within 50 miles. When I asked why, they said, "because of our homeless population," adding that most hotels here have similar policies. This is outrageous.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
What would be the real world impacts of the loss of federal funding for Housing First programs? We modeled it: an additional 44,590 ppl beyond anticipated growth due to economic factors. @jabarocas.bsky.social @kirkfetters.bsky.social @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social url: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com
Potential Changes in US Homelessness by Ending Federal Support for Housing First Programs
This decision analytical model estimates the change in the number of people experiencing homelessness in a year following termination of federal support for Housing First programs.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
“There is no place for us” by @brian-goldstone.bsky.social IS one of the must reads of the year. @nytimes.com & President Obama and many others agree too! If you haven’t read it yet, please do!
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Interested in the overlap between poor health & homelessness-- and how to improve health among people experiencing homelessness> Interested in how health &housing systems should collaborate to end homelessness? Join us today! Noon PT! @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social homelessness.ucsf.edu/calendar/web...
homelessness.ucsf.edu
Webinar: Understanding Health & Homelessness | Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative
People experiencing homelessness in California face high rates of chronic illness and disability, and numerous barriers to care. These health challenges make it harder for people to obtain and retain ...
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Interested in the overlap between poor health & homelessness-- and how to improve health among people experiencing homelessness> Interested in how health &housing systems should collaborate to end homelessness? Join us today! Noon PT! @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social homelessness.ucsf.edu/calendar/web...
homelessness.ucsf.edu
Webinar: Understanding Health & Homelessness | Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative
People experiencing homelessness in California face high rates of chronic illness and disability, and numerous barriers to care. These health challenges make it harder for people to obtain and retain ...
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
📢 New paper alert: We examined long-term housing results among a cohort of older homeless adults. Full article: Factors Associated With Exits From and Returns to Homelessness Among Older Homeless Adults: Results From the HOPE HOME Study www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 1/5
tandfonline.com
Factors Associated With Exits From and Returns to Homelessness Among Older Homeless Adults: Results From the HOPE HOME Study
Homelessness is dynamic; some individuals cycle between homelessness and housing. In a longitudinal study of 411 adults aged 50 and older who were homeless at study enrollment, we examined the prev...
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Helen Rottier @helenrottier.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
I’m heartsick to hear that the incomparable Alice Wong has passed. Her loss will be felt keenly, by many, and for a long time. She is a force, a generous leader and storyteller, and an oracle for disabled futures. Much love to Alice and to all our crip kin and comrades. ❤️‍🩹
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Elea Chang @elea.fyi · 15/11/2025
I don’t want to formulate words yet, but my friend Alice Wong, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social of the Disability Visibility Project, has passed. Here are the words she left behind: www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
instagram.com
Alice Wong on Instagram: "ID: Yellow background with black text "This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the time of her passing. Hi everyone, it ...
423 likes, 73 comments - alicatsamurai on November 14, 2025: "ID: Yellow background with black text "This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the t...
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
This @nytimes.com piece on the "Vision for Homelessness" in Utah should horrify all people. This NYTimes piece on the "Vision for Homelessness" in Utah should horrify all people. 1/x 🧵 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...
nytimes.com
In Utah, Trump’s Vision for Homelessness Begins to Take Shape
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
Community safety comes from ensuring that everyone has a safe and secure place to live. Community safety comes from ensuring that we have well-funded, high functioning schools. Community safety comes from ensuring everyone has access to the healthcare that they need.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Always good to spend time with @lisahalverstadt.bsky.social — one of the best journalists working on homelessness. #Politifest2025
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Thrilled to spend a few days in Ireland with @simoncommunity.bsky.social bringing the American perspective—homelessness is solvable. (Don’t fall into the mistakes of the US)!
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
In the last day, a Fox news reporter responded to his on air colleague advocating for mass internment of people experiencing homelessness by suggesting instead that someone (the government? Bystanders?) pursue lethal injection of them. (He is, as far as I can tell, still employed).
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
In the last day, a Fox news reporter responded to his on air colleague advocating for mass internment of people experiencing homelessness by suggesting instead that someone (the government? Bystanders?) pursue lethal injection of them. (He is, as far as I can tell, still employed).
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
📣Homelessness is caused by the disconnect btw housing costs & incomes. In addition to the ⬆️cost of housing-- the lack of labor protections in the US contribute to homelessness. Our new paper using #CAHomelessnessStudy examines this @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
“Everybody out there in the real world is one paycheck away from being homeless”: job loss and housing precarity among people experiencing homelessness
The United States has fewer labor protections and wage guarantees than most wealthy industrialized nations; thus, workers can fall into economic hardship by the loss of employment, reduction in wor...
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Human beings are not “blight.” And cutting resources while throwing away people’s worldly possessions does not solve homelessness. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/u...
nytimes.com
For D.C.’s Homeless, Strained Lives Become More Unstable
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Veteran homelessness has ⬇️by > 1/2, because of Housing First and FUNDING. In @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social @hannahdeckermd.bsky.social study, Vets who gained housing were >2 as likely to catch up on colon and breast ca screening. Housing = Health www.annfammed.org/content/23/4... @annfammed.bsky.social
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Jesse Rabinowitz @jesserbnwtz.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
URGENT: DC to clear many homeless encampments tonight (Thur, Aug 7th). Please spread widely and share with media. My hunch is that this is @MayorBowser working with @realDonaldTrump , but I cannot confirm that yet.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Today’s EO on homelessness is shocking in its cruelty (even for this administration). Cutting funding for housing and health while criminalizing homelessness & mental health and substance use problems will lead to endless suffering and worsen homelessness.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Today’s EO on homelessness is shocking in its cruelty (even for this administration). Cutting funding for housing and health while criminalizing homelessness & mental health and substance use problems will lead to endless suffering and worsen homelessness.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Join us at 9am PT today!
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Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Bay Area friends: I’ll be joining KQED Forum live tomorrow (7/22) at 9am PST, along with @mkushel.bsky.social. The conversation will be hosted by @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social.
kqed.org
Working Yet Homeless in America | KQED
We talk to journalist Brian Goldstone and Dr. Margot Kushel, Director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, about the experience of having a job but not housing.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
⭐ Important report from @capolicylab.bsky.social on pilot data from homelessness prevention project 🔑 to homelessness prevention is ID ppr w highest risk, finding them, using evidence based interventions to as many as possible. They did that! RCT results to come. ⬇️ Read the report! lnkd.in/gsYMDiEW
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Chapin Hall @chapinhall.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
We're looking for a part-time Policy Analyst with lived experience living in CA to support the state's Prevention Services Continuous Quality Improvement Plan. Join us to make a difference for communities and work with great people! Apply using the Careers button here: tinyurl.com/bdfdpmee
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UCSF Benioff Homelessness & Housing Initiative @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
“Research shows that housing is not just a solution to homelessness—it's...a direct intervention against violence. People are significantly safer once housed,” says @mkushel.bsky.social. “Investments in permanent housing, supportive services & prevention... are critical...”
buff.ly
Mass stabbing in Salem as 11 rushed to hospital: What to know
Eleven people were rushed to hospital after a mass stabbing occurred at a men's homeless shelter in Salem, Oregon, on Sunday.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
📣Older adults are the fastest growing group of people experiencing homelessness. This @nytimes.com makes the crisis vivid. Proposed cuts & policy changes will make this problem so much worse. @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social Proud to have contributed 🧵 1/x www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/u...
nytimes.com
How a Generation’s Struggle Led to a Record Surge in Homelessness
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Bay Area! If you care about homelessness, join Brian Goldstone, author of “There is No Place for Us” at GreenApple Books Thursday June 12 at 7. (And read the book!)
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
📢 New paper alert! Despite Medicaid expansion, ppl experiencing homelessness continue to have poor access to outpatient care and ⬆️ use of ED & hospital. Compared to 30 yrs ago, pop is older & sicker driving use despite ⬆️insurance coverage @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com
Health Care Access and Use Among Adults Experiencing Homelessness
This cross-sectional study examines the prevalence of poor health care access and short-term health care and use among people experiencing homelessness in California.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
📢 New paper alert! Despite Medicaid expansion, ppl experiencing homelessness continue to have poor access to outpatient care and ⬆️ use of ED & hospital. Compared to 30 yrs ago, pop is older & sicker driving use despite ⬆️insurance coverage @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com
Health Care Access and Use Among Adults Experiencing Homelessness
This cross-sectional study examines the prevalence of poor health care access and short-term health care and use among people experiencing homelessness in California.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Agree--"There is No Place for Us" by @brian-goldstone.bsky.social is a must read. If you want to understand homelessness, the way the economy & our housing policies conspire to leave large swaths of the population destitute and unstably housed--read it. It is gripping and important!
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
"We need to look ourselves in the mirror as a society. We are letting our elders die out alone in the cold or the heat, deeply traumatized, deeply frightened, and die alone and outside. And that is unacceptable." Grateful to be interviewed about senior homelessness www.ijpr.org/poverty-and-...
ijpr.org
'I couldn't afford it': Older adults are being priced out and ending up homeless
A growing number of older adults are ending up homeless for the first time — often after a lifetime of work. With few options, little support and growing health risks, being older and homeless comes w...
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UCSF Benioff Homelessness & Housing Initiative @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Dr. @mkushel.bsky.social shared research at yesterday’s CA Housing/CD Committee on what’s needed to sustain progress on homelessness. “We actually do know how to end this crisis. It is hard, but it is doable, and it will take sustained investments at all levels of government.” buff.ly/iJ1gBVO
Dr. Margot Kushel speaks to the California State Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
The honor was all mine! ❤️ @justiceinaging.org
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
“It’s not that he wants to stay outside..He is tired... He didn’t want to be given something and have it be taken away.” Fresno spending $100Ks prosecuting 77 yo homeless man who missed work to go to court--instead of helping him get inside @calmatters.org Dez Martinez calmatters.org/housing/home...
calmatters.org
What happens after a homeless person is arrested for camping? Often, not much
Wickey Two Hands was supposed to be tried for camping in Fresno. But after civic resources poured into his case, it was dismissed.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Only 1/4 Americans who qualify receive Fed rental support. Rental support ends homelessness. Any ⬇️ will ⬆️ homelessness. As this admin ⬆️ cruel rhetoric & criminalization of homelessness, they are taking actions to ⬆️⬆️the #s of ppl who experience it. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/u...
nytimes.com
White House Eyes Overhaul of Federal Housing Aid to the Poor
The Trump administration has considered sharply curtailing vouchers as part of its budget for the 2026 fiscal year.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Only 1/4 Americans who qualify receive Fed rental support. Rental support ends homelessness. Any ⬇️ will ⬆️ homelessness. As this admin ⬆️ cruel rhetoric & criminalization of homelessness, they are taking actions to ⬆️⬆️the #s of ppl who experience it. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/u...
nytimes.com
White House Eyes Overhaul of Federal Housing Aid to the Poor
The Trump administration has considered sharply curtailing vouchers as part of its budget for the 2026 fiscal year.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
"I challenge you to care about providing homes to people who need them... to welcome new affordable housing when it’s proposed... Hold politicians accountable not by insisting they keep these developments out of your neighborhood but by demanding they build more." www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
latimes.com
Editorial: To understand homelessness, listen to homeless people. Here's what I learned
Don't we all want better for all people who are this impoverished? Los Angeles cannot thrive if there is one community of people safely in homes and another forced onto the sidewalks.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Many people who exp homelessness work all day--the public just doesn't see them or recognize them. (Neighbors fought against these homeless shelters for working folks, too) Strongly recommend @brian-goldstone.bsky.social book "There is no place for us" to learn more. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/n...
nytimes.com
When They Go Home After Working All Day, It’s Not to a Home (Gift Article)
Thousands of working people in New York City now live in shelters, unable to afford apartments despite holding down jobs that pay them $50,000 or more.
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Brittany Charlton @britshmit.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
🚨 BREAKING: I'm suing #RFKJr @ #HHS & #JayBhattacharya @ #NIH Canceling medical research grants threatens innovations benefiting ALL Americans, no matter your politics! 🇺🇸 Thanks to my lawyers @aclu.org @aclum.bsky.social @protectdemocracy.org & @cspi.bsky.social Long 🧵 on why I'm suing 👇 1/
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
"Over the past four years, 97 percent have either remained at the Lenniger or moved to other housing." In-depth reporting on life in PSH in @nytimes.com with key messages 🧵 Two Years in a Place Where Homelessness Ends www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Permanent Supportive Housing Spotlights Challenges After Homelessness
A reporter and photographer documented the lives of residents and staff at the Lenniger, a permanent supportive housing complex in New York City.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Crushing people doesn't make people safe & that just one way that "clearing" homelessness encampments harms health. No one wants there to be homeless encampments. But treating human beings as if they were garbage to be disposed of isn't a solution. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/u...
nytimes.com
In Cities’ Rush to Clear Homeless Camps, People Have Been Crushed to Death
Atlanta’s mayor began a drive to clear homeless encampments. But when heavy equipment came to raze one, nobody noticed that Cornelius Taylor was still inside his tent.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
We are in the midst of what many consider the most promising pancreatic cancer cure research in decades. This is literally joining the War on Cancer on the side of cancer. It's happening in multiple departments. They're also attacking mRNA fax science which is the heart of the possible breakthrough.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Out today! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
"Recognizing that recovery is often nonlinear, a more nuanced view of treatment is needed...Expecting complete abstinence may be unrealistic in some cases and can even be harmful." Essential reading from Dr. Nora Volkow--the Director of NIDA nida.nih.gov/about-nida/n...
nida.nih.gov
Advancing reduction of drug use as an endpoint in addiction treatment trials | National Institute on Drug Abuse
Abstinence is sometimes not achievable. There’s a need for new treatment approaches.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
"Recognizing that recovery is often nonlinear, a more nuanced view of treatment is needed...Expecting complete abstinence may be unrealistic in some cases and can even be harmful." Essential reading from Dr. Nora Volkow--the Director of NIDA nida.nih.gov/about-nida/n...
nida.nih.gov
Advancing reduction of drug use as an endpoint in addiction treatment trials | National Institute on Drug Abuse
Abstinence is sometimes not achievable. There’s a need for new treatment approaches.
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Join us at 11:30 PT today for a webinar discussing our latest report on Behavioral Health and Homelessness! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
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Margot Kushel MD @mkushel.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
🆕 Today, we released our report on Behavioral Health and Homelessness. We outline the complex interactions btw mental health & substance use problems & homelessness & discuss recommendations #CAHomelessnessStudy @ucsfbhhi.bsky.social homelessness.ucsf.edu/resources/re... 1/2
homelessness.ucsf.edu
Behavioral Health and Homelessness | Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative
Behavioral health challenges both contribute to and are exacerbated by homelessness. To better understand behavioral health and homelessness, we examined data from the California Statewide Study of Pe...
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