HFPC 2026

Pre-Conference: May 11, 2026 | Conference: May 12-14, 2026

Hilton San Francisco Union Square

in downtown San Francisco, CA

PRESENTED BY: DESC and Pathways Housing First Institute

PRE-CONFERENCE INSTITUTES

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2026

Join DESC and Pathways Housing First Institute, and other program partners, the day before the conference for intensive workshops that cover a range of timely topics in the Housing First field. You must register for the pre-conference day to attend these sessions. ALL TIMES LISTED ARE IN PACIFIC TIME.

If you are registered for the full conference, you will have access to the Pre-conference institutes. Otherwise, regular conference starts on Tuesday, May 12, to Thursday, May 14.

MORNING INSTITUTES | 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM PDT

  • Presenters: DESC leaders, managers, and staff

    Asserting Housing First values can be easier than implementing them in practice. This session leans into this tension and explores the real-world application of Housing First principles to support housing retention, quality client care, and property management functions. Drawing on DESC's 30+ year history of pioneering and innovating Housing First, this session will provide an overview of the core Housing First principles at the heart of DESC's programming along with exploring key strategies for implementing Housing First values into day-to-day operations. This will include assertive tenant engagement strategies to promote housing stability and recovery along with techniques for incorporating Housing First principles into property management activities. When faced with challenging situations, high quality Housing First programming embraces collaboration over coercion and compassion over compliance. This session will explore DESC's strategies for living these values.

  • Presenters:

    • Callan Fockele, MD (she/her), Senior Medical Lead, ORCA Center, DESC

    • Jesse Benet, MA, LMHC, (he/him), Director, Northwest, Corporation for Supportive Housing

    • Noah Fay (he/him), Senior Director of Housing, DESC

    • Sam Tsemberis, PhD (he/him), CEO and Founder, pathways Housing First Institute

    • Seema L. Clifasefi, PhD, MSW (she/her), Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington–Harborview Medical Center and Co-Director of the Harm Reduction Research and Treatment (HaRRT) Center

    Harm reduction is fundamentally woven into the DNA of Housing First programs. You cannot operate a Housing First program without incorporating a harm reduction approach.  However, given the complexity and severity of substance use disorder, the traumatic histories of many Housing First tenants, and prevalence of overdose risk, an effective Harm Reduction approach must include a wide range of assertive interventions to address individual needs.  In this session presenters will discuss interventions and techniques designed to support safety and recovery.  Participants will also work in small groups to develop strategies to address issues resulting in drug-related harms and synthesize their strategies with the larger group.

  • Presenter: Kirsten Farrell (she/her), Director, The Goodman Center

    Despite the studies that prove the efficacy of Housing First, our sector of leaders and service providers face near constant pushback. How do we speak to concerned community members who are resistant to change or polarized by the very words we use?

    Since we first began talking to each other, telling stories has been a powerful way to capture attention, engage an audience, and motivate them to act. Human stories about our work have the power to unite our audiences, where other forces would divide them. As we learn more about how our minds work, we are discovering that stories influence our behavior and the decisions we make every day.

    By the end of this workshop, you will begin telling the stories that can move your community to action, and you’ll leave equipped with a template for making every story you tell memorable and persuasive.

LUNCH ON OWN | 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM PDT

AFTERNOON INSTITUTES | 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM PDT

  • Presenters:

    • Juliana Kitten, MSW

    • Ana Stefancic, PhD

    • Sam Tsemberis, PhD

    Addressing persistent challenges in Housing First programs requires pragmatism, flexibility, and creativity. While Housing First principles emphasize client choice and the separation of housing and services, responding effectively to repeat and ongoing housing-related problems can sometimes strain alignment with these principles. This interactive preconference workshop will explore practical strategies for addressing commonly occurring issues that threaten tenancy in scatter-site housing. Participants will examine whether, and how, viable solutions can be developed that remain consistent with Housing First program fidelity. Central to this discussion is a core question: how do we adapt our interventions to real-world challenges without abandoning our principles? Participants will engage in small-group problem-solving exercises focused on complex, realistic scenarios. Together, the group will analyze proposed interventions and assess how well they align with Housing First fidelity standards.

  • Presenters:

    1. Seema L. Clifasefi, PhD, MSW (she/her), Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington–Harborview Medical Center and Co-Director of the Harm Reduction Research and Treatment (HaRRT) Center

    2. Aaron Davis, MPH, CHES (she/they), Manager of Program Operations
      CoLab for Community and Behavioral Health Policy, University of Washington School of Medicine, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences  

    Housing First programs often support residents experiencing ongoing substance use, trauma, and social isolation, yet staff and providers frequently lack structured guidance to translate harm reduction values into everyday practice. The Life Enhancing Advocacy Program (LEAP) is an evidence-based, community-driven approach shown to build community, reduce substance-related harm, and improve quality of life; however, implementation can be challenging without clear processes and practical supports.

    This 2.5-hour interactive workshop focuses on practice-based strategies for implementing LEAP principles in real-world housing settings. Examples drawn from LEAPLink, a training and implementation support resource, are used to illustrate how harm reduction, resident leadership, and meaningful activities can be operationalized by staff. Participants will engage in hands-on demonstrations, applied exercises, and case examples that emphasize staff skills, ethical engagement, and feasible program adaptations across diverse housing and service contexts.

  • Presenters:

    • Laura Sorensen, MSW, Associate Director, Harm Reduction Programs, Camden Coalition

    • Dorothy Scott, Senior Community Health Worker, Housing First, Camden Coalition

    • Mary Pelak, MSW, LSW, Senior Program Manager, Housing First, Camden Coalition

    Complex care is a growing interprofessional field that seeks to improve health and well-being for people with complex health and social needs: those who have multiple chronic physical and behavioral health conditions combined with social barriers that are exacerbated by systemic problems such as racism and poverty. Complex care seeks to serve people with complex needs in meeting their own health and well-being goals by coordinating or integrating a wide range of services and supports across diverse human needs.  Housing First teams are already doing complex care—whether or not it’s labeled that way. This interactive workshop explores how applying complex care competencies can strengthen Housing First practice, improve outcomes for participants, and support staff sustainability.  

    Complex care requires a diverse and interprofessional workforce, with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to support intersecting complex needs as outlined in Core competencies for frontline complex care providers, a set of 30 competencies developed by the Camden Coalition in collaboration with experts from around the country, including people with lived experience. Participants will examine core complex care competencies—such as person-centered care, interdisciplinary teamwork, trauma-informed engagement, data-informed decision-making, and system navigation—and explore how these skills align naturally with Housing First principles. Through real-world scenarios and case studies based on learnings from Camden Coalition’s Housing First program, along with small-group discussion, the session will focus on practical ways teams can deepen their impact while staying grounded in Housing First values.  Attendees will leave with a shared language for complex care, a clearer understanding of how their work already reflects these competencies, and concrete ideas for strengthening Housing First services without adding unnecessary burden to teams.