Samantha Batko is a senior fellow and practice area lead for the Preventing and Ending Homelessness practice area in the Housing and Communities Division at the Urban Institute. Her research focuses on homelessness, housing instability, housing assistance, and supportive services. She has developed expertise on homelessness and housing over a 19-year career in the sector that has included research, federal policy, and technical assistance and training. She has expertise in several primary homelessness programs including homelessness prevention, emergency shelter, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing. She is currently the principal investigator of Urban’s Housing Justice Hub, the evaluation of Denver’s All in Mile High Initiative, and the US Department Housing and Urban Development’s Pay for Success permanent supportive housing demonstration evaluation. Other current projects include the US Department of Health and Human Services Runaway and Homeless Youth Learning Agenda and case studies of Emergency Housing Voucher programs. Past projects have included the evaluation of Tipping Point Community’s Chronic Homelessness Initiative in San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Unaccompanied Women Experiencing Homelessness Needs Assessment, the development of the Emergency Rental Assistance Priority Index, and evaluation of the State of New Jersey’s Keeping Families Together supportive housing program. Batko sits on the State of California Interagency Council on Homelessness Advisory Board, the National Alliance to End Homelessness Research Council, The Homelessness Policy Research Institute based at USC Price, the Homelessness Research Advisory Council for Portland State University, and the Homelessness Research Advisory Board for All Home California. Batko has been cited in the LA Times, Route Fifty, and The Hill multiple times; has published multiple opeds, including in The Hill and in Street Sense (Washington, DC’s “street” newspaper); is frequently a guest on NPR affiliates; and has been a guest on PBS NewsHour.