Massachusett's Premier Housing First Initiative
Home & Healthy for Good
Housing First represents a significant paradigm shift in addressing the costly phenomenon of homelessness. This strategy demonstrates impressive outcomes when chronically homeless people are supported in a permanent, housed environment, rather than targeted for intensive services in shelters or streets. As a result of mounting evidence from around the country that Housing First strategies result in tremendous cost savings to cities and states and a decrease in the incidence of chronic homelessness, the Massachusetts Legislature passed line item 4406-3010 in the FY07 state budget to fund a pilot Housing First program for 130 chronically homeless individuals.
The state allocated funds to MHSA through the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to operate the program, known as Home & Healthy for Good (HHG). An evaluation of this pilot program, with a focus on the cost per participant and projected cost savings in state-funded programs, is ongoing. An initial report was submitted to the Massachusetts Legislature in March 2007, and an updated report with data on 184 of 229 participants was submitted in December 2007. These findings indicate a projected annual cost savings to the Commonwealth of $9,379 per person housed. Other highlights:
As of December 1, 2007, 229 formerly homeless people have been housed across Massachusetts.
For the 184 participants studied:
- The average length of homelessness upon entry into the program is 5 years.
- The costs per person per month, including the cost of housing and services, decreased from $2,720 before housing to $1,939 after housing placement, a monthly savings of $781 per person. Most of these savings are a result of a drastic decrease in costly inpatient medical care.
