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Benjamin Henwood

Frances L. and Albert G. Feldman Professor of Social Policy and Health; Director, Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research; Director, Homelessness Policy Research Institute

Expert on housing and integrative support for homeless individuals

Media Contact
Ben Henwood
Phone:  +1 213.821.0496
Rank:  Tenure Track Faculty

Benjamin Henwood

Frances L. and Albert G. Feldman Professor of Social Policy and Health; Director, Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research; Director, Homelessness Policy Research Institute

Expert on housing and integrative support for homeless individuals

Media Contact

Biography

Benjamin Henwood, PhD, LCSW is the Albert G. and Frances Lomas Feldman Professor of Social Policy and Health at the University of Southern California (USC). He directs the Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and also holds a secondary appointment as a professor in the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Professor Henwood also serves as director for the Homelessness Policy Research Institute, a joint operation of USC Social Work and the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Trained as a clinical social worker and researcher, Professor Henwood is an expert in health and housing services research whose work connects clinical interventions with social policy. He is a co-author of the book “Housing First,” published by Oxford University Press, and led the launch of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare's Grand Challenge to End Homelessness.

Professor Henwood’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (i.e., NIMH, NIDA, NIA), the National Science Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the Patient Centered Research Outcomes Institute and Google.org. He has also served as the methodological lead for the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count since 2017, which is the largest unsheltered count in the United States. Professor Henwood received his MSW in 2004 and PhD in 2011 from NYU’s Silver School of Social Work.

To reference the work of Benjamin Henwood online, we ask that you directly quote their work where possible and attribute it to "Benjamin Henwood, faculty at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work” (LINK: https://dworakpeck.usc.edu)

Media

Education

New York University

PhD 2011

New York University

MSW 2004

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

MA 1999

Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania

BA 1997

Area of Expertise

  • Serious Mental Illness
  • Housing First, homelessness, permanent supportive housing
  • Integrated behavioral and primary healthcare

Industry Experience

  • Program Development
  • Health Care - Services
  • Health Care - Facilities
  • Education/Learning
  • Research
  • Health and Wellness
  • Health Care - Providers
  • Public Policy

Research Interest

Homelessness

Affiliations

  • Fellow, Society for Social Work and Research

Accomplishments

Slavin-Patti Award, 2020

For best practice-based research article: Fenwick, K., Henwood, B., Lengnick-Hall, R., Stefancic, A., & Gilmer, T. (2019). Exploring variation in Housing First implementation: The role of fit. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, 43(5), 392–406.

2019 Editor’s Choice Award for Noteworthy Publication

For integrated care, psychiatric services article: Henwood, B. F., Siantz, E., Hrouda, D., Innes-Gomberg, D., & Gilmer, T. (2018). Integrated primary care in assertive community treatment. Psychiatric Services, 69(2), 133–135.

2018 Best Publication, 2nd Place

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
For article: Nicholas, W., & Henwood, B. F. (2018). Applying a prevention framework to address homelessness as a population health issue. Journal of Public Health Policy, 39(3), 283–293.

2017 Sterling K. Franklin Award for Distinguished Teaching

USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work

2011 New Investigator Award

National Institute of Mental Health

Articles & Publications

Henwood, B. F., Semborski, S., Pitts, D. B., Niemiec, S. S., Yay, O., Paone, D. L., & Szanton, S. L. (2023). A pilot randomized controlled trial of CAPABLE in permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 71(5), 1587-1594. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18235

Porter, N. A. C., Brosnan, H. K., Chang, A. H., Henwood, B. F., & Kuhn, R. (2022). Race and ethnicity and sex variation in COVID-19 mortality risks among adults experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County, California. JAMA Network Open, 5(12), Article e2245263. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.45263

Byrne, T. H., Henwood, B. F., & Orlando, A. W. (2021). A rising tide drowns unstable boats: How inequality creates homelessness. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 693(1), 28-45. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716220981864

Nicholas, W., Greenwell, L., Henwood, B.F., Simon, P. (2021). Using Point-in-Time Homeless Counts to Monitor Mortality Trends Among People Experiencing Homelessness in Los Angeles County, California, 2015–2019. American Journal of Public Health, Volume 111, No. 12. ajph.2021.306502.pdf

Henwood, B.F., Aykanian, A. (2020) Advancing Social Work Education to Meet the Grand Challenge of Ending Homelessness, Journal of Social Work Education, 56:sup1, S1-S3, DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2020.1744417

Henwood, B.F., Dzubur, E., Redline, B., Madden, D.R., Semborski, S., Rhoades, H., Wenzel, S. (2019). Longitudinal effects of permanent supportive housing on insomnia for homeless adults. Sleep Health, Volume 5, Issue 3, Pages 236-240, ISSN 2352-7218 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2019.01.001.

 

Henwood, B.F., Padgett, D.K. Homelessness in Los Angeles and New York City: A Tale of Two Cities, Homelessness Prevention and Intervention in Social Work (Chapter). (2019) ISBN : 978-3-030-03726-0

Links