Chapin Hall

Former USICH Director Joins Chapin Hall as Senior Advisor

Jeff Olivet to bring direct service, senior policy experience to new role

Jeff Olivet, the outgoing executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, is joining Chapin Hall as a senior advisor, where he will help shape and guide Chapin Hall’s work on preventing and ending youth homelessness. With roots in direct service to youth and young adults, Olivet has emerged as a national leader in addressing homelessness, spearheading efforts to document the role of racial inequity in housing instability and to elevate the engagement of those with lived experience.

“Chapin Hall is the source for evidence that the entire youth homelessness field looks to,” said Olivet. “I look forward to working with Chapin Hall to build on that foundation—not only to determine the next steps for building evidence, but also to develop solid policy and practice responses to prevent and end youth homelessness.”

Olivet is the principal of the recently launched Jeff Olivet Consulting Group.

Olivet has spent more than three decades working to combat homelessness, poverty, and racial inequality and to advance best practices across sectors. His work has included street outreach, case work, coalition building and nonprofit leadership. Olivet has also been the principal investigator on several homelessness research projects and is the author of numerous articles. (See “Cities, Don’t Give Up on the Fight to End Homelessness,” published by National League of Cities, and Why Homelessness Still Exists and How We Can End It, published by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.)

While Olivet led USICH, the federal government increased the supply of affordable housing and developed a new public health-driven strategy to prevent and end homelessness. The federal government also invested heavily in emergency rental assistance and emergency housing vouchers, averting a massive rise in homelessness during the worst of the pandemic.

“At Chapin Hall we are focused on offering a unique blend of research and policy expertise that, combined, can lead to solid solutions,” said Chapin Hall Executive Director Bryan Samuels. “Jeff’s career reflects what we look for at Chapin Hall – diverse experience in practice, research and policy. Jeff also brings a profound commitment to racial equity and to ending youth homelessness, making him an excellent match for our mission and values. We look forward to working with Jeff to develop the next phase of our work on youth homelessness.”