Housing Opportunities for Persons with Mental Illness Tanya Tull President/CEO

Housing Opportunities
for Persons with Mental Illness
presented to:
The President’s New Freedom
Commission on Mental Health
November 13, 2002
Tanya Tull
President/CEO
Beyond Shelter, Inc.
Ending Homelessness
Homelessness is the most visible
manifestation of increasing poverty in
America. Deep pits have been dug in
communities throughout the country, and
more and more people are falling in every
day. The safety net is disappearing and the
ladder has been taken away.
Emergency shelters and transitional
housing are simply “stepping
stones.” If at the end of our
interventions and our support, the
homeless are still homeless – or at
risk of another episode of
homelessness – then what have we
really accomplished?
Homelessness ends when an
individual or family is stabilized in
permanent, affordable housing,
whatever that permanent housing type
may be – and whatever the support
systems that must be in place to help
them stay there.
Two Premises of Housing First
• Permanent housing should be the central
goal of our work with people experiencing
homelessness.
• By providing permanent housing
assistance immediately and up-front, we
can significantly reduce or eliminate the
time people spend in homelessness.
The “Housing First” Approach
Moves homeless persons into permanent rental
housing as quickly as possible, with the services
traditionally provided in transitional housing
provided after relocation into permanent rental
housing. The basic goal of “housing first” is to
“break the cycle” of homelessness and prevent a
recurrence.
Components of Housing First
• Crisis Intervention and Stabilization
• Intake and Assessment
• Assistance Moving into Permanent
Housing
• Home-Based Case Management
(time-limited or long-term)
The “housing first” approach helps
mentally ill persons move into permanent
housing of many different types,
including housing in the private rental
market, often with a subsidy – and offers
home-based services to help them
stabilize and maintain their housing.
Benefits of a
Housing First Approach
• Uses Private Market Housing
• Prevents Recidivism (return to
homelessness)
• Improves Client Outcomes
• Leverages Existing Community Resources
• Cost Effective
• Offers Housing Choice
HUD Continuum of Care Model
Outreach
Intake
Assessment
Emergency Shelter
Transitional Housing
Traditional Housing,
no services
Supportive Housing
Modifications to the Continuum of Care
Outreach
Intake
Assessment
Emergency Shelter
Traditional Housing, no
services
Transitional Housing
Supportive Housing
Service-Enriched
Housing
Indicates Modifications
Traditional Housing
with Home-Based
Case Management
Housing Options
• Permanent Housing – No Services
• Supportive Housing – Services are
available for people with special
needs
Additional Housing Options
• Service-Enriched Housing – Private or
nonprofit rental housing, with services
available to all residents, regardless of
special needs.
• Permanent Housing – Home-based case
management available through outside
sources, either time-limited or long-term.
Service-Enriched Housing
Basic rental housing for the low-income
population at-large, in which services
coordination is available to ALL residents of a
rental property. Service-enriched housing can
be multi-family housing or single-family
housing, owned by non-profit developer or a
private landlord.
Components of
Service-Enriched Housing
• Mentally Ill persons integrated into broader
community (families, seniors, working
poor).
• Services Coordinator available for crisis
intervention, on-going support and linkages
to mental health and other services for
all residents.
Benefits of
Service-Enriched Housing
• Cost effective.
• Leverages existing community resources,
identifies problems prior to crises.
• Improved resident outcomes (prevents
homelessness, relapse and other negative
behavior).
• Offers more housing choice.
Simple mechanisms can be put in
place where people live to meet the
needs of all people living in our
communities, including persons with
mental illness, the elderly, families with
children, youth, and persons with
other special needs.
Neighborhood-Based
Services Coordination
An adaptation of the service-enriched
housing methodology, in which a “central
point of contact” for services coordination is
available to all residents of a neighborhood
- families, elderly, persons with mental
illness, and youth.
Stress
Management
Psychiatric
Services
Counseling
Services
Health
Care
Transportation
Employment &
Job Readiness
Services
Mental
Health
Services
Socialization &
Recreation
Programs
Linking persons with mental
health problems to
community services
Child Care &
Children’s
Services
Money
Management
Crisis
Intervention
Family
Preservation/R
eunification
Community
Service
Opportunities
Home-Based
Services
Substance
Abuse
Services
Grocery,
landromat,
bank, etc.
Parole/
Probation
Given the inadequate supply of
affordable and specialized
housing, it becomes increasingly
important to look at the existing
housing stock at large as a source
of housing for persons with
mental illness.
Policy Recommendations
to Improve Housing
Opportunities for Persons
with Mental Illness
Shorten Experience
of Homelessness
• Address barriers within HUD Continuum
of Care.
• Adopt a Housing First approach.
• Make a variety of housing options
available (match client to housing).
Support Home-Based Services
• Can be offered through neighborhood center or
other community-based resources and services.
• Develop strategies to support mentally ill
persons living on their own who are “isolating”.
• Recognize and support “housing choice” for all
persons with mental illness and the benefits of
enabling them to live in neighborhoods
and communities regardless of their
special needs.
Meet Housing Needs
• Integrate a “housing first” approach into
all homeless programs and services.
• Offer a variety of permanent housing
models that integrate housing + services,
to enable persons with mental illness to
remain in communities of their chose,
often near family and friends.
Prevent Homelessness
• Address national shortage in affordable
housing – especially for people with
incomes below 30% of median income.
• Insure that no Institution discharges
someone without a viable housing plan.
Provide housing search assistance.