We invite you to join the conversation with distinguished researchers at the University of Oregon as they discuss the theories and discoveries emerging from their ongoing research efforts on housing challenges in Oregon.
Associate Professor Claire Herbert, Department of Sociology, is a current Consumer Protection Research Grant recipient. PhD student Mae Sowards and their research team they are diligently collecting and analyzing data for their project studying government protections for people excluded from the housing market in Oregon. They present their findings at a research roundtable titled "Discussion on Housing Challenges in Oregon" noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, at Room 242 Gerlinger Hall.
“This research focuses on two government regulations that protect the rights of people who are excluded from or trying to access the housing market: local regulatory changes to align with Oregon’s HB 3115 and Measure 110. Both curtail the extent to which people experiencing homelessness are penalized for not being able to access the housing market and aim to increase their participation in the social service marketplace to bolster their entry back into housing. These regulations become a key part of protections for consumers at the most vulnerable end of the housing spectrum, who face multiple barriers to fully participating in the housing market.”
This research is part of the interdisciplinary UO Homeless Policy and Health Project, for which Herbert examines the interaction between local regulations, enforcement, and the well-being of residents experiencing unsheltered homelessness.
Professor Laurie Hauber, School of Law, is a Business Law faculty member with extensive knowledge about homelessness. She will contextualize the research of Herbert and team with a discussion of the implications of the recent US Supreme Court decision, Grants Pass v. Johnson, and the proliferation of lawsuits around the country that criminalize people for being unhoused. Her law review article, “Criminalization of the Unhoused: A Case Study Of Alternatives to a Punitive System”, which appeared in the winter 2024 edition of the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy, is based on extensive research she conducted in Eugene on the impact of laws on the unhoused.