Homeless Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Revisiting Salamon’s Voluntary Failure Theory

Abstract

This paper examines government and nonprofit relations in the context of federal homeless policy with specific attention to Continuum of Care (CoC) homeless networks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applying Salamon’s voluntary failure theory, we conduct a qualitative study answering the following question: How, during the COVID-19 pandemic, did government address the voluntary failures of the nonprofit sector? Results expand Salamon’s work by offering a more robust picture of what happens after federal funds are allocated to support the failures of the nonprofit sector. Government funds both help and generate their own limitations, which are further alleviated by nonprofit solutions.

Keywords

• voluntary failure theory
• homelessness
• continuum of care (coc)
• covid-19 pandemic