Concepts in Housing: Supportive Housing

Since part of the purpose of this blog is to educate the public on housing issues, I thought I'd try something new.  I've lived & breathed housing for the past few years, and it can be difficult for me to remember that many people do not have the familiarity that I do.  Just as I don't have the equivalent knowledge on health care issues, on education, on business law, etc.  I thought it might be helpful if I occasionally took the time to talk about some of the terminology and concepts in housing, especially when I run into a good explanation.

I thought I'd start with a relatively new concept, Supportive Housing, after seeing a good slide show from New York explaining the basic idea behind Supportive Housing and summarizes it as:

Supportive Housing is permanent housing in which support services are available to break the cycle of homelessness and lead productive lives.

I'm sure you, like many people, are probably thinking, "but isn't that expensive?"  Well, yes, if compared to, say, a newly graduated college student living in an apartment with roommates.  But that's not the basis of comparison.  Using Slide 13, you have to consider that the person might be in a shelter ($54.42/day).  Or perhaps the person tried to steal some food or clothing, and ends up in prison ($74/day) or jail ($164.57).  But maybe the police takes the person to a psychiatric institution instead ($467/day).  Many people who are homeless typically have health problems because of a lack of preventive care, and end up in the hospital instead of seeing a doctor. Typical hospital costs are $1,185/day.  Compared to all that, supportive housing at $41.85/day is looking like a real bargain!

In the wake of Meg Kissinger's articles on the housing crisis for persons with mental illness, the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County has been working together to improve housing for people with mental illness.  More specifically, looking at solutions for chronically homeless persons, many who have mental illness and/or alcohol or drug abuse (AODA).  Among the newly opened or soon-to-be-completed supportive housing apartments in Milwaukee are Johnston Center Residences, Veterans Manor, Capuchin Apartments, and Empowerment Village.

A significant difference between supportive housing and its cousin, transitional living, is that with transitional living, the focus is more on the program delivery and services designed to assist the person. 

Whereas with supportive housing the priority is getting the person into housing, and then the person can use any services as desired-but it (usually) is not a condition of remaining in the housing.  The idea is that the person has to want to change, and supportive housing makes those services available, while keeping the person off the streets.

It might seem counter-intuitive, given the reduced emphasis on services, but studies have shown that supportive housing and "Housing First" models are actually more cost-effective and has better outcomes for everyone-for the person, for the funders, and for the community.

There typically are two ways permanent supportive housing can be provided-through dedicated housing like the apartments I mentioned earlier, or using other strategies that provide for more scattered housing options within a community.  The funding usually comes from Shelter Plus Care although other funding sources have been used, either in addition to Shelter Plus Care, or instead of it.

You can find links and more information in the Supportive Housing section at Disability.gov.