Homelessness Ends with Housing First
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Housing First Yields High Success and Creates Real Hope
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A Message from USICH Executive Director Laura Green Zeilinger
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The Obama Administration fully supports and calls for the adoption of Housing First across all communities - as something that is not just good to do, but as something that we must do to reach our goals.
The adoption of Housing First isn't based on an ideological debate between Housing First and housing readiness; it's based on overwhelming evidence that Housing First yields higher housing retention rates, lower returns to homelessness, and significantly reduces the use of crisis services and institutions. Because of its proven success, Housing First is a core strategy of Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.
Simply put, communities that implement Housing First across their systems make the most progress on homelessness. New Orleans has reduced overall homelessness by 83 percent. Phoenix made a huge shift towards the adoption of Housing First, resulting in a 47 percent decrease in chronic homelessness, ending chronic homelessness among Veterans. And Houston has driven down homelessness by nearly 40 percent. These are just to name a few.
Although some communities remain unaware of Housing First's overwhelming success, I honestly do not believe this is our greatest challenge.
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Four Clarifications about Housing First
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by Richard Cho, USICH Senior Policy Director
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1. Housing First is not a "program." It is a whole-system orientation and response.
When we think of Housing First as a program, it creates the illusion that Housing First is just one among many choices for responding to homelessness. Housing First is a whole-system orientation, and in some cases, a whole-system re-orientation. To borrow a phrase, it is about "changing the DNA" of how a community responds to homelessness.
2. Housing First is a recognition that everyone can achieve stability in (real) housing. Some people simply need services to help them do so.
The problem goes back to thinking about Housing First as a program model. When we instead think of Housing First as an approach and a whole system orientation, it allows us to get away from "one-size-fits-all" solutions, and focus on matching the right level of housing assistance and services to people's needs and strengths.
3. Housing First is about health, recovery, and well-being. Housing itself is the foundation and platform for achieving these goals.
The Housing First approach emphasizes services that focus on housing stability, then using that housing as a platform for connecting people to the types of services and care that they seek and want. It's based on the basic premise that if people have a stable home, they are in a better position to achieve other goals, including health, recovery and well-being than when they are homeless.
4. Housing First is about changing mainstream systems.
Housing First is, and always has been, about changing mainstream systems. In the beginning, Housing First was about changing the mental health system's paradigm to recognize that housing is foundational to mental health recovery, and housing is just as foundational to addiction recovery and psychical well-being as it is to mental health.
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Implementing Housing First in Permanent Supportive Housing
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New Fact Sheet from USICH
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Permanent supportive housing and Housing First should be thought of as two complementary tools for ending chronic homelessness and helping people with disabilities live independently in a community. Permanent supportive housing is a successful and proven programmatic and housing intervention, while Housing First is a framework that can and should be used with permanent supportive housing, as well as with other program models and as a community-wide framework for ending homelessness.
USICH, with assistance from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, has published a new fact sheet to help service providers understand how Housing First can fit into a permanent supportive housing framework.
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100,000 Homes Campaign Surpasses Goal
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238 Communities Committed to and Succeeded in Connecting 101,628 People with Permanent Housing in Four Years
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USICH Executive Director Laura Zeilinger speaks at 100,000 Homes Campaign Event June 11, 2014.
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On June 11, 2014 in a Capitol Hill event, the 100,000 Homes Campaign announced it has achieved its goal to connect 100,000 people experiencing chronic homelessness to safe, stable housing - 101,628 people, to be exact. That number includes 30,000 Veterans, and the campaign estimates that the collaborative work has saved taxpayers $1.3 billion in services, such as emergency room visits, policing, and psychiatric centers. 100,000 Homes is a movement of New York-based Community Solutions.
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HUD Announces Tier 2 CoC Competition Funding
U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan on June 19, 2014, announced a second round of grants totaling $140 million to nearly 900 local homeless assistance programs across the country. Provided through HUD's Continuum of Care Program, the funding will ensure additional permanent and transitional housing renewal projects are able to continue operating in the coming year, providing critically needed housing and support services to those persons and families experiencing homelessness.
Community Service Block Grants Can Be Used as Matching Grants to McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Programs
On June 4, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Office of Community Services issued clarification through an information memorandum, declaring that CSBG funds can be used to match the Homeless Assistance grants under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. These include:
- the Emergency Solutions Grant
- the Continuum of Care program
- the Rural Housing Stability Assistance program
- the Supportive Housing program
- the Shelter Plus Care program
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USICH welcomed two dynamic new staff members this month! Paul Kim is a first-year law student at Lewis & Clark Law School. As an extern, Paul works closely with each policy area on projects in family, youth, Veteran and chronic homelessness.
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Jamie Keene, a junior at Smith College, is interning with USICH before heading abroad for studies at Oxford University. As a communications and external affairs intern, Jamie will support strategic communication and the production of informational programming.
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How to Talk about Housing First
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By Matthew Doherty, USICH Director of National Initiatives
I recently partnered with the San Diego Regional Continuum of Care Council (RCCC) to host a first-of-its kind discussion locally, billed as Housing First: A Community Conversation for San Diego. I was joined by 25 RCCC members and other stakeholders ready to engage in the dialogue - especially meaningful to me given I live and work in San Diego.
Recognizing that not everyone had the same understanding or support for Housing First approaches, our discussion was structured as a dialogue in which people could express any concerns, questions or disagreements. We wanted to make sure that we could get issues out on the table in a safe environment so that future conversations and trainings could be structured to address the issues raised and help more people, programs, and agencies move toward Housing First approaches in practice.
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Upcoming Webinars You Should Attend
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June 26, 2014 | 2 p.m. Eastern
Join USICH Executive Director Laura Zeilinger and Ann Oliva, HUD Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, in a webinar on Housing First and Rapid Re-Housing. Topics include:
- The core components of a Housing First approach
- The core components of the Rapid Re-Housing model
- Why both of these interventions are critical to the efforts to end homelessness
Click here to sign up.
SAMHSA-HRSA Webinar: Health Care Begins at Home
June 23, 2014 | 1 p.m. Eastern
The Affordable Care Act creates new opportunities and incentives to align care with health and to address "whole person" health needs. For people experiencing homelessness, housing is critical to health care and better health outcomes. Please join us to learn how SAMSHA and HRSA grantees have successfully integrated primary and behavioral care services and housing to end homelessness. This integration can include partnering with nonprofit housing providers, public housing authorities, or by directly assisting people to obtain affordable housing.
The webinar, moderated by the USICH, will focus on partnerships between mainstream and Health Care for the Homeless health centers, SAMHSA homeless assistance programs, and housing to reduce people's vulnerability to the impacts of homelessness.
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The First Lady Announces the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness
On June 4, 2014, First Lady Michelle Obama announced a new initiative, spearheaded by USICH, HUD and VA, that aims to secure commitments by local leaders to end Veteran homelessness in the United States in 2015. The Challenge's mission is a central goal of Opening Doors, the Federal plan to prevent and end all forms of homelessness.
Watch the Replay.
There's No Place Like Home: Housing Key to Controlling Health Care Costs
Dr. Jeffrey Brenner and Elizabeth Buck write in the Field Clinic blog at Philly.com that "one percent of patients account for 30 percent of all healthcare costs. Nearly 30 percent of the highest users are unstably housed. For them, there is little that can be done to change their use of the healthcare system until they receive permanent housing.
Earlier this year, Dr. Brenner, Executive Director of the Camden Coalition of Health Care Providers, gave a HUD talk on hot spotting, a groundbreaking technique mapping resources to respond to the most urgent medical needs - and ultimately led to the connection between homelessness and high medical care costs. Watch the replay of "A Conversation with Jeffrey Brenner."
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