Penelope Schlesinger
Biographic Data
| ID | 3581716 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Penelope Schlesinger |
| GIVEN NAMES | Penelope |
| FAMILY NAME | Schlesinger |
| SIGNATURE | SCHLESINGER P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Yale University |
| ORCID | 0009-0001-6878-9883 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 52 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 17 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
“This is an exposure of all the things that were previously wrong”
Housing insecurity is a pervasive problem for American renters. This precarity is rooted in a system that privileges ownership rights over occupancy rights, causing an imbalance of power between landlords and renters. While the insecurity of renting in urban America has been a focus of investigation for over a century, the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic reignited public interest in this issue and centered important questions regarding …
“It’s a Process—But It Shouldn’t Take This Long”
A growing and severe shortage of affordable housing in the U.S. has led to an increase in cost-burdened households and housing insecurity nationwide. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides rental assistance through programs such as Housing Choice Vouchers and public or project-based housing to increase access to affordable housing. However, available funding for these programs limits their supply, creating extensive w…
Rental assistance impacts on diabetes
The U.S. faces a persistent shortage of affordable housing, forcing many low-income individuals with chronic illnesses such as diabetes to navigate trade-offs between housing, healthcare, and basic needs essential for disease management. Rental assistance may alleviate these pressures by increasing housing stability, reducing financial strain, and enabling safer medication storage and food preparation. However, only a fraction of eligible househo…
Do Rental Assistance Programs Relieve Overcrowding for Children
“Being homeless can burn you out”
Despite significant efforts to address the homelessness in the United States, on any given night more than 500,000 individuals lack shelter/place to call home. This persistent and high rate of homelessness can be attributed to the shortage of affordable housing options, the eviction crisis, and unmet need for rental assistance. Administrative burdens tied to homeless services may also create barriers to housing for individuals experiencing homele…
Structural Racism, the Social Determination of Health, and Health Inequities
Public health researchers have directed increasing attention to structural racism and its implications for health equity. The conceptualization of racism as historically rooted in systems, structures, and institutions of US society has important implications for addressing social determinants of health (SDOH). It requires theorizing SDOH as embedded in and expressions of racially oppressive historical structures that are manifested in and maintai…
The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease
In 2016, only one in five eligible U.S. households received rental assistance and waiting lists averaged two years nationally. The gap between available rental assistance and need requires systems to allocate this scarce resource. The way potential rental assistance recipients experience and navigate these systems is likely to shape who ultimately receives assistance. We draw on repeated qualitative interviews (N=238) with low-income New Haven re…
“You Have a Place to Rest Your Head in Peace”
Hotel housing was an intervention implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the spread of the virus among people experiencing homelessness. Individuals living in congregate shelter or unsheltered settings in New Haven, Connecticut, were relocated into two hotels at the start of the pandemic. In this paper we characterize and explore the experiences of 18 individuals who were moved to hotels. Participants shared that the hotels, as oppose…
“I was reaching out for help and they did not help me”
Filling the Gaps in an Inadequate Housing Safety Net
The authors examine the experiences of informal housing providers, defined as those who provide housing and shelter to family, friends, and acquaintances in the context of a severe affordable rental housing crisis. Forty-five semistructured interviews were conducted with informal housing providers in and around New Haven, Connecticut, in 2021. The data describe the critical role informal housing providers play in addressing gaps in the housing sa…
Housing Instability and HIV Risk
The study purpose is to comprehensively measure landlord-related forced moves (inclusive of, but not restricted to, legal eviction), and to examine whether landlord-related forced moves is associated with HIV risk. Baseline survey data was collected between 2017 and 2018 among 360 low-income participants in New Haven, Connecticut. We used multivariable logistic regression analyses to examine associations between landlord-related forced moves and …
Social Determination of HIV
We contrast a typical “social determinants of health” framing with a more dynamic and complex “social determination of health” framing to analyze HIV-related sexual risk among women in low-income, segregated neighborhoods in New Haven, CT. Using an abductive approach, we analyze repeated, longitudinal qualitative interviews conducted over a 2-year period with a sample of 14 HIV-negative women who engaged in sex with men during the study period. T…
I don't know what home feels like anymore
Does rental assistance improve mental health? Insights from a longitudinal cohort study
Covid-19 and Hidden Housing Vulnerabilities
My neighborhood has a good reputation
Quantifying the Restrictiveness of Local Housing Authority Policies Toward People With Criminal Justice Histories
Objectives. To quantify variation in the restrictiveness of local public housing authority policies related to the admission and eviction of people with criminal justice histories. Methods. We conducted content analysis of housing authority policy documents for US cities with a population of 100 000 or more (n = 152). Factor analysis identified policy provisions to create a restrictiveness score (range = 0–8). We explored associations between res…
I don't know what home feels like anymore
Does rental assistance improve mental health? Insights from a longitudinal cohort study
Quantifying the Restrictiveness of Local Housing Authority Policies Toward People With Criminal Justice Histories
Objectives. To quantify variation in the restrictiveness of local public housing authority policies related to the admission and eviction of people with criminal justice histories. Methods. We conducted content analysis of housing authority policy documents for US cities with a population of 100 000 or more (n = 152). Factor analysis identified policy provisions to create a restrictiveness score (range = 0–8). We explored associations between res…
Structural Racism, the Social Determination of Health, and Health Inequities
Public health researchers have directed increasing attention to structural racism and its implications for health equity. The conceptualization of racism as historically rooted in systems, structures, and institutions of US society has important implications for addressing social determinants of health (SDOH). It requires theorizing SDOH as embedded in and expressions of racially oppressive historical structures that are manifested in and maintai…
The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease
In 2016, only one in five eligible U.S. households received rental assistance and waiting lists averaged two years nationally. The gap between available rental assistance and need requires systems to allocate this scarce resource. The way potential rental assistance recipients experience and navigate these systems is likely to shape who ultimately receives assistance. We draw on repeated qualitative interviews (N=238) with low-income New Haven re…
Filling the Gaps in an Inadequate Housing Safety Net
The authors examine the experiences of informal housing providers, defined as those who provide housing and shelter to family, friends, and acquaintances in the context of a severe affordable rental housing crisis. Forty-five semistructured interviews were conducted with informal housing providers in and around New Haven, Connecticut, in 2021. The data describe the critical role informal housing providers play in addressing gaps in the housing sa…
My neighborhood has a good reputation
Covid-19 and Hidden Housing Vulnerabilities
My neighborhood has a good reputation
Quantifying the Restrictiveness of Local Housing Authority Policies Toward People With Criminal Justice Histories
Objectives. To quantify variation in the restrictiveness of local public housing authority policies related to the admission and eviction of people with criminal justice histories. Methods. We conducted content analysis of housing authority policy documents for US cities with a population of 100 000 or more (n = 152). Factor analysis identified policy provisions to create a restrictiveness score (range = 0–8). We explored associations between res…
Housing Instability and HIV Risk
The study purpose is to comprehensively measure landlord-related forced moves (inclusive of, but not restricted to, legal eviction), and to examine whether landlord-related forced moves is associated with HIV risk. Baseline survey data was collected between 2017 and 2018 among 360 low-income participants in New Haven, Connecticut. We used multivariable logistic regression analyses to examine associations between landlord-related forced moves and …
Social Determination of HIV
We contrast a typical “social determinants of health” framing with a more dynamic and complex “social determination of health” framing to analyze HIV-related sexual risk among women in low-income, segregated neighborhoods in New Haven, CT. Using an abductive approach, we analyze repeated, longitudinal qualitative interviews conducted over a 2-year period with a sample of 14 HIV-negative women who engaged in sex with men during the study period. T…
I don't know what home feels like anymore
Does rental assistance improve mental health? Insights from a longitudinal cohort study
“You Have a Place to Rest Your Head in Peace”
Hotel housing was an intervention implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the spread of the virus among people experiencing homelessness. Individuals living in congregate shelter or unsheltered settings in New Haven, Connecticut, were relocated into two hotels at the start of the pandemic. In this paper we characterize and explore the experiences of 18 individuals who were moved to hotels. Participants shared that the hotels, as oppose…
“I was reaching out for help and they did not help me”
Filling the Gaps in an Inadequate Housing Safety Net
The authors examine the experiences of informal housing providers, defined as those who provide housing and shelter to family, friends, and acquaintances in the context of a severe affordable rental housing crisis. Forty-five semistructured interviews were conducted with informal housing providers in and around New Haven, Connecticut, in 2021. The data describe the critical role informal housing providers play in addressing gaps in the housing sa…
Structural Racism, the Social Determination of Health, and Health Inequities
Public health researchers have directed increasing attention to structural racism and its implications for health equity. The conceptualization of racism as historically rooted in systems, structures, and institutions of US society has important implications for addressing social determinants of health (SDOH). It requires theorizing SDOH as embedded in and expressions of racially oppressive historical structures that are manifested in and maintai…
The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease
In 2016, only one in five eligible U.S. households received rental assistance and waiting lists averaged two years nationally. The gap between available rental assistance and need requires systems to allocate this scarce resource. The way potential rental assistance recipients experience and navigate these systems is likely to shape who ultimately receives assistance. We draw on repeated qualitative interviews (N=238) with low-income New Haven re…
“Being homeless can burn you out”
Despite significant efforts to address the homelessness in the United States, on any given night more than 500,000 individuals lack shelter/place to call home. This persistent and high rate of homelessness can be attributed to the shortage of affordable housing options, the eviction crisis, and unmet need for rental assistance. Administrative burdens tied to homeless services may also create barriers to housing for individuals experiencing homele…
Do Rental Assistance Programs Relieve Overcrowding for Children
“This is an exposure of all the things that were previously wrong”
Housing insecurity is a pervasive problem for American renters. This precarity is rooted in a system that privileges ownership rights over occupancy rights, causing an imbalance of power between landlords and renters. While the insecurity of renting in urban America has been a focus of investigation for over a century, the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic reignited public interest in this issue and centered important questions regarding …
“It’s a Process—But It Shouldn’t Take This Long”
A growing and severe shortage of affordable housing in the U.S. has led to an increase in cost-burdened households and housing insecurity nationwide. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides rental assistance through programs such as Housing Choice Vouchers and public or project-based housing to increase access to affordable housing. However, available funding for these programs limits their supply, creating extensive w…
Rental assistance impacts on diabetes
The U.S. faces a persistent shortage of affordable housing, forcing many low-income individuals with chronic illnesses such as diabetes to navigate trade-offs between housing, healthcare, and basic needs essential for disease management. Rental assistance may alleviate these pressures by increasing housing stability, reducing financial strain, and enabling safer medication storage and food preparation. However, only a fraction of eligible househo…
Homelessness and Social Issues (12 works) · Medicine (11 works) · Political science (10 works) · Renting (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Business (7 works) · Economics (7 works) · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism (6 works) · Law (5 works) · Psychology (5 works)