Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness

Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness
Author: Russell K. Schutt
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2011-02-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0674051017

Humans are social animals and, in general, don’t thrive in isolated environments. Homeless people, many of whom suffer from serious mental illnesses, often live socially isolated on the streets or in shelters. Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness describes a carefully designed large-scale study to assess how well these people do when attempts are made to reduce their social isolation and integrate them into the community. Should homeless mentally ill people be provided with the type of housing they want or with what clinicians think they need? Is residential staff necessary? Are roommates advantageous? How is community integration affected by substance abuse, psychiatric diagnoses, and cognitive functioning? Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness answers these questions and reexamines the assumptions behind housing policies that support the preference of most homeless mentally ill people to live alone in independent apartments. The analysis shows that living alone reduces housing retention as well as cognitive functioning, while group homes improve these critical outcomes. Throughout the book, Russell Schutt explores the meaning and value of community for our most fragile citizens.

Homelessness Is a Housing Problem

Homelessness Is a Housing Problem
Author: Gregg Colburn
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2022-03-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0520383796

Using rich and detailed data, this groundbreaking book explains why homelessness has become a crisis in America and reveals the structural conditions that underlie it. In Homelessness Is a Housing Problem, Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern seek to explain the substantial regional variation in rates of homelessness in cities across the United States. In a departure from many analytical approaches, Colburn and Aldern shift their focus from the individual experiencing homelessness to the metropolitan area. Using accessible statistical analysis, they test a range of conventional beliefs about what drives the prevalence of homelessness in a given city—including mental illness, drug use, poverty, weather, generosity of public assistance, and low-income mobility—and find that none explain the regional variation observed across the country. Instead, housing market conditions, such as the cost and availability of rental housing, offer a far more convincing account. With rigor and clarity, Homelessness Is a Housing Problem explores U.S. cities' diverse experiences with housing precarity and offers policy solutions for unique regional contexts.

Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs

Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 1988-02-01
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309038324

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.

Permanent Supportive Housing

Permanent Supportive Housing
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2018-08-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309477042

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.

Housing First

Housing First
Author: Sam Tsemberis
Publisher: Hazelden Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015-10-27
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9781616496494

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.

Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Health

Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Health
Author: Cheryl Forchuk
Publisher: Canadian Scholars’ Press
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2011
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1551303906

Some say mental illness is the last great stigma remaining in our communities. This book is a collection of twenty articles written by researchers, scholars, practitioners of nursing, social work, and community health, and survivors of mental illness and homelessness. Each piece speaks to a specific aspect of the linkages among housing/homelessness, poverty, and mental illness.

Nowhere to Go

Nowhere to Go
Author: Edwin Fuller Torrey
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Total Pages: 280
Release: 1988
Genre: Psychology
ISBN:

Examines the policy of deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and what can be done about it.

The Open Door

The Open Door
Author: Carol L. M. Caton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2017
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0190463384

The Open Door provides a comprehensive, carefully documented "state of the science" on homelessness and mental illness. The book reviews the effectiveness of service and housing interventions targeted at this constituency, and discusses efforts to bring evidence-based programs to scale.

Housing, Citizenship, and Communities for People with Serious Mental Illness

Housing, Citizenship, and Communities for People with Serious Mental Illness
Author: John Sylvestre
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2017-01-10
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0190265620

Housing has emerged as a popular and central topic of research, mental health system development, and social and mental health policy in recent years. The field has rapidly evolved in a number of ways: first, with the introduction and popularization of the Housing First approach; second, there are now a growing number of randomized controlled studies to evaluate the lives of people living in this housing; and third, there is increasing recognition of housing as a cornerstone of mental health policy and community mental health systems. Housing, Citizenship, and Communities for People with Serious Mental Illness provides the first comprehensive overview of the field. The book covers theory, research, practice, and policy issues related to the provision of housing and the supports that people rely on to get and keep their housing. A special focus is given to issues of citizenship and community life as key outcomes for people with serious mental illness who live in community housing. The book is grounded in the values, research traditions, and conceptual tools of community psychology. This provides a unique lens through which to view the field. It emphasizes housing not only as a component of community mental health systems but also as an instrument for promoting citizenship, social inclusion, social justice, and the empowerment of marginalized people. It serves as a resource for researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers looking for up-to-date reviews and perspectives on this field, as well as a sourcebook for current and future research and practice trends.

Homelessness Among U.S. Veterans

Homelessness Among U.S. Veterans
Author: Jack Tsai
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2019
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0190695137

The challenges facing military veterans who return to civilian life in the United States are persistent and well documented. But for all the political outcry and attempts to improve military members' readjustments, veterans of all service eras face formidable obstacles related to mental health, substance abuse, employment, and — most damningly — homelessness. Homelessness Among U.S. Veterans synthesizes the new glut of research on veteran homelessness — geographic trends, root causes, effective and ineffective interventions to mitigate it — in a format that provides a needed reference as this public health fight continues to be fought. Codifying the data and research from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) campaign to end veteran homelessness, psychologist Jack Tsai links disparate lines of research to produce an advanced and elegant resource on a defining social issue of our time.