One topic area that a capstone project could focus on is addressing homelessness within a community. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, on a single night in January 2020, there were over 580,000 people experiencing homelessness in the United States. This is an issue that disproportionately impacts disadvantaged and marginalized groups. A lack of affordable housing, poverty, lack of access to healthcare and mental health services, and other structural factors all contribute to higher rates of homelessness.

For this capstone project, a student could partner with a local non-profit organization or social services agency that provides assistance to those experiencing homelessness. Through this partnership, the student would develop a comprehensive needs assessment and strategic plan to help the organization better meet the needs of the community and work to prevent and end homelessness. Some key components of such a project could include:

Conducting in-depth interviews and surveys with those experiencing homelessness and front-line service providers to understand root causes of homelessness in the area, barriers to accessing existing services, gaps in services, and recommend ways to improve outreach and assistance. This would involve developing ethically sound methods and tools for data collection from vulnerable populations.

Researching best practices and innovative models from other communities around the country to develop recommendations for new or expanded programming. This could include things like housing first programs, job training initiatives, health/mental health services, childcare assistance, rent subsidies, legal aid, transportation assistance, and more. The goal would be to take a multi-faceted, broad approach to addressing the complex set of challenges contributing to the problem.

Developing a strategic communications plan to raise community awareness of the issue, reduce stigma, and generate local support/volunteerism/donations for interventions. This might involve targeted advocacy, public forums, social media campaigns, collaborating with local schools on educational initiatives, etc.

Creating implementation and evaluation plans with measurable goals, timelines, responsibility assignments, and budget projections to guide adoption of recommendations over the next 3-5 years. Quantitative and qualitative metrics would need to be established to track progress in reducing homelessness, improving self-sufficiency, engaging more community members, leveraging additional funding, and enhancing overall system coordination.

Writing a detailed final report presenting all research findings, recommendations, and implementation/evaluation plans to serve as a resource for the partner organization and community stakeholders moving forward. This would require synthesizing literature, data collected, best practices identified, and incorporating feedback from key informants. The report would need thorough citations, appendix materials, and be written in an accessible, professional format.

Developing a presentation summarizing the project to formally share results and garner support. This could involve a presentation to the partner organization, local government, funders, and other social services providers to facilitate collaborative discussions on adopting and supporting recommended interventions. The presentation would require clear visuals, talking points, and responding to questions/feedback.

Ensuring proper ethical guidelines are followed throughout by obtaining IRB approval, maintaining confidentiality of participants, receiving informed consent, and conducting the work with cultural humility and reducing potential harms. Community input and oversight would also be crucial.

If completed successfully, such a capstone project would make a meaningful contribution towards social justice and community development goals by providing an agency with essential guidance, resources, and momentum to more comprehensively tackle the complex issue of homelessness. The student would gain valuable skills in collaborative community-engaged research, strategic planning, and taking academic knowledge to address real-world problems. With approval and support, long-term follow up could also be conducted to track outcomes and support ongoing improvement efforts. This type of multifaceted project has the potential for real impact that extends far beyond any individual course requirement.