Dennis P. Culhane, Ph.D.
Dana and Andrew Stone Chair in Social Policy
Professor, School of Social Policy and Practice
University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Culhane's primary area of research is homelessness and assisted housing policy. His research has contributed to efforts to address the housing and support needs of people experiencing housing emergencies and long-term homelessness.
Dr. Culhane's recent research includes studies of vulnerable youth and young adults, including those experiencing homelessness, and transitioning from foster care or juvenile justice. His recent work also includes studies of the aging of the adult homeless population in the US, and the potential for increasing housing and support services by strengthening federal entitlements.
Dr. Culhane served as a consultant to the Bush administration’s Chronic Homelessness Initiative from 2003 to 2008. He also served as Director of Research at the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, an initiative of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, from July 2009 to June 2018.
Contact
culhane@upenn.eduResearch Interests
Homelessness
Housing policy
Policy analysis research methods
Curriculum Vitae
View CVAffiliated Centers
Latest Research
Regional Characteristics of Housing Loss Risk during COVID-19
Soshiro Yamada, Dennis P. Culhane, Yusuke Kakita, Hiroshi Goto · Nov 2025In Japan, the decrease in homelessness is attributed to the adoption of a narrow definition focusing solely on rough sleepers. However, by adopting a broader conceptualization similar to ETHOS, it is...
Addressing Homelessness: U.S. Sweeps Versus Japan's Public Assistance
Matthew D. Marr, Hiroshi Goto, Dennis P. Culhane · Oct 2025Rather than sweep encampments and cut budgets, Japan found success with needs-based cash benefits and housing subsidies
Scoping provision of WASH services for unsheltered individuals: practitioners' experiences from the West Coast (U.S.)
Miriam E. Hacker, Meagan Cusack, Dennis P. Culhane · Apr 2025This study focuses on five West Coast cities in the United States (U.S.) to understand current access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions targeted toward individuals experiencing ho...
How Much Would It Cost to Provide Housing First to All Households Staying in Homeless Shelters
Dennis P Culhane, Matthew Fowle, Joy Moses · Mar 2025Housing First is a proven evidence-based approach to addressing homelessness. However, programs operating under the Housing First model do not receive the necessary funding to meet the needs of all pe...
Generalized Anxiety Disorder Prevalence and Disparities Among U.S. Adults The Roles Played by Job Loss, Food Insecurity, and Vaccinations During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Chenyi Ma, Tony E. Smith, Dennis P Culhane · Feb 2025Objectives: The purposes of this study are to examine (i) to what extent job loss and food insecurity accounted for racial disparities in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) risk among adults in the Un...
Persistence of a birth cohort effect in the US among the adult homeless population
ThomasByrne;Kelly M.Doran,MD;RandallKuhn,;StephenMetraux,;MaryanneSchretzman,DSW;DanTreglia,;Dennis P.Culhane · Dec 2024Older adult homelessness is increasing in the US. Research published more than a decade ago using 1990 to 2010 decennial Census data suggested this is due to a birth cohort effect. Persons born betwee...
NYC report Preventing Young Adult Homelessness among Students at Risk
Dennis P Culhane, TC Burnett, CIDI · Nov 2024The transition to adulthood is a particularly difficult time for most youth, and this difficulty is magnified for young adults experiencing homelessness. These young people have often already survived...
The stress-buffering effects of received social support on PTSD among Hurricane Ike survivors
Chenyi Ma, Tony E. Smith, Dennis P Culhane · Sep 2024Hurricane Ike made landfall in the Galveston Bay Area in 2008, destroying parts of the built and natural environment, and leaving survivors with a high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTS...
Understanding the dynamic process of human behavior changes towards disaster preparedness: An application of the integrated TTM with SCT and PMT
Chenyi Ma, Dennis P Culhane, Sara S. Bachman · Jun 2024Integrating the Transtheoretical Model with Social Cognitive Theory and Protection Motivation Theory, we propose a new model to study the progress of behavior changes towards disaster preparedness alo...