If homeless people with mental illnesses are provided housing, they will not likely stay housed unless they can access continued treatment.
Successful housing models for people diagnosed with serious mental illnesses emphasize independent housing while providing resources for residents. Resources in supported housing programs include mental health treatment, physical health care, education and employment opportunities, peer support, and daily living and money management skills training. They also employ outreach workers and a focus on reintegrating residents into their community.
In addition, providing permanent supportive housing to homeless people with mental illnesses reduced their use of costly and publicly provided hospital emergency department and inpatient services. Investing in supported housing not only improves residents’ mental health, but also cuts costs from public mental health services.
However, such supported housing programs suffer from a lack of funding. Here are some things you can do to encourage supported housing programs:
Find and donate to an organization that focuses on providing permanent supported housing to people who are homeless and mentally ill. For example, in Washington DC, Pathways to Housing DC provides housing first and matches residents with a support team to provide treatment.
Volunteer at an organization that focuses on providing permanent supported housing to people who are homeless and mentally ill.
Stop stigmatizing mental illness by using serious mental illnesses to describe your current mood and actions. ‘Bipolar’ is not the same thing as ‘moody.’ ‘OCD’ is not the same thing as ‘neat.’ ‘Depressed’ is not the same thing as ‘sad.’
Encourage your local, state, and federal housing departments to invest more funds into supported housing programs.