Permanent Supportive Housing

Chronic homelessness is a highly complex social problem of national importance. The problem has elicited a variety of societal and public policy responses over the years, concomitant with fluctuations in the economy and changes in the demographics of and attitudes toward poor and disenfranchised citizens. In recent decades, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the philanthropic community have worked hard to develop and implement programs to solve the challenges of homelessness, and progress has been made. However, much more remains to be done. Importantly, the results of various efforts, and especially the efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans in recent years, have shown that the problem of homelessness can be successfully addressed. Although a number of programs have been developed to meet the needs of persons experiencing homelessness, this report focuses on one particular type of intervention: permanent supportive housing (PSH). Permanent Supportive Housing focuses on the impact of PSH on health care outcomes and its cost-effectiveness. The report also addresses policy and program barriers that affect the ability to bring the PSH and other housing models to scale to address housing and health care needs.

Chronically homeless individuals are those who spend long periods of time living on the street or other places not meant for human habitation, and who have one or more disabilities, frequently including mental illnesses and substance use disorders. In the 2014 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) point-in-time count of people experiencing homelessness, over 84,000 individuals met the definition of chronically homeless, down from more than 120,000 in 2008. In part the decline is due to the federal governments plan, announced in 2002, to end chronic homelessness within 10 years. The target date has since been extended to 2017. Among the federal programs focused on ending chronic homelessness are the HUD Homelessness Assistance Grants, the HUD and Veterans Affairs Supported Housing Program (HUD-VASH), and several HUD demonstration programs. One of the reasons that federal programs have devoted resources to ending chronic homelessness is studies finding that individuals who experience it, particularly those with serious mental illness, use many expensive services often paid through public sources, including emergency room visits, inpatient hospitalisations, and law enforcement and jail time. Even emergency shelter resources can be costly. In addition to potential ethical reasons for ending chronic homelessness, doing so could reduce costs in providing assistance to this population. This book summarises the research surrounding permanent supportive housing (PSH) for chronically homeless individuals. In doing so, it attempts to examine the nuance in the research to determine where PSH could be considered successful and where gaps may remain. The book discusses what it means to be chronically homeless, the way in which assistance for chronically homeless individuals has evolved, and how federal programs target assistance to individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. In addition, it summarises the research regarding chronically homeless individuals who move into PSH.

As an evidence-based practice, Housing First has not only been proven to be successful in ending homelessness, but is also embraced as the most cost-effective solution. Today, the Housing First model is being implemented in hundreds of communities across the United States, Canada and Europe. As the model evolves one thing remains constant: Housing First ends homelessness. Housing First is simple: provide housing first, and then combine that housing with supportive treatment services in mental and physical health, substance abuse, education, and employment.Housing First details:solid, actionable information about the program's philosophy, operations, and administrationthe composition, staffing structures, and day-to-day operations of the clinical and support servicespractices in client assessment and engagementproperty management operationsthe best protocols for assisting clients with the search for housing, relationships with landlords, and the overall "settling in" processthe research evidence for the effectiveness of the Pathways modelThe Pathways model has been remarkably successful in ending chronic homelessness. Since its founding, housing retention rates have remained at 85 – 90 percent even among individuals who have not succeeded in other programs. Not only is Housing First effective at keeping people housed and working toward recovery, it has also proven to be incredibly cost-effective.

There have always been homeless people in the United States, but their plight has only recently stirred widespread public reaction and concern. Part of this new recognition stems from the problem's prevalence: the number of homeless individuals, while hard to pin down exactly, is rising. In light of this, Congress asked the Institute of Medicine to find out whether existing health care programs were ignoring the homeless or delivering care to them inefficiently. This book is the report prepared by a committee of experts who examined these problems through visits to city slums and impoverished rural areas, and through an analysis of papers written by leading scholars in the field.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of innovative housing programs for persons who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and who use substances (e.g. drugs, alcohol or other substances). The research specifically examined which housing interventions and factors that incorporate a harm reduction approach best help this population access and maintain stable housing. Three research questions were addressed: 1. How effective are innovative or alternative residential housing programs for homeless people with substance use issues, especially those that incorporate high-tolerance or harm reduction into a supported living environment? 2. To what degree is secure and stable housing crucial to successful substance use treatment models? 3. Do harm reduction strategies, as part of supportive housing, enhance the stability and longevity of housing tenure for homeless people with substance use issues?

Foreword by Nan Roman, President and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness This book explains how to end the U.S. homelessness crisis by bringing together the best scholarship on the subject and sharing solutions that both local communities and national policy-makers can apply now. In the Midst of Plenty shifts understanding of homelessness away from individual disability to larger contexts of poverty, income inequality, housing affordability, and social exclusion. Homelessness experts Shinn and Khadduri provide guidance on how to end homelessness for people who experience it and how to prevent so many people from reaching the point where they have no alternative to sleeping on the street or in emergency shelters. The authors show that we know how to end homelessness—if we devote the necessary resources to doing so. In the Midst of Plenty: Homelessness and What to Do About It is an excellent resource for policy-makers, professionals in the homeless services system, and anyone else who wants to end homelessness. It also can serve as a text in undergraduate or masters courses in public policy, sociology, psychology, social work, urban studies, or housing policy. "The knowledgeable and thoughtful authors of this book—two brilliant women who know as much as anyone in the country about the nature of homelessness and its solutions—have done a great service by taking us on a journey through the history of homelessness, how our responses have changed, and how we can end it." —Nan Roman, President and CEO National Alliance to End Homelessness. "Shinn and Khadduri's new book is a thorough yet concise examination of what we know about the nature and causes of homelessness, and the crucial lessons learned. This critically important work provides a roadmap to restoring basic housing and income security as viable policy options, in the face of our daunting inequality divide that otherwise threatens millions with destitution and homelessness." —Dennis Culhane, Dana and Andrew Stone Professor of Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania "Marybeth Shinn and Jill Khadduri have combined their significant expertise to create an essential guide about the history of modern homelessness and to offer a clear path forward to end this American tragedy. Their policy recommendations on ending homelessness are culled from the best about what we know works." —Barbara Poppe, Executive Director US Interagency Council on Homeless, 2009-2014

Winner of the 2020 IDEC award Homelessness and the Built Environment provides a practical introduction to the effective physical design of homes and other facilities that assist unhoused persons in countries identified as middle- to high-income. It considers the supportive role that design can play for unhoused persons and other users and argues that the built environment is an equal partner alongside other therapies and programs for ending a person’s state of homelessness. By exploring issues, trends, and the unique potential of built environments, this book moves the needle of what is possible to assist people experiencing trauma. Examining important architectural and interior architectural design considerations in detail within emergency shelters, transitional shelters, permanent supportive housing, day centers, and multi-service complexes such as space planning choices, circulation and wayfinding, visibility, lighting, and materials and finishes, it provides readers with both curated conclusions from empirical knowledge and experienced designers’ perspectives. Homelessness and the Built Environment is an imperative and singular reference for interior designers, architects and building renovation sponsors, design researchers and students forging new discoveries, and policy makers who seek to assist communities affected by homelessness.