Supportive Housing:
What impact does supportive housing have on health, employment, mental illness, and substance abuse in communities where it is has been implemented?

The ever-increasing momentum of government, corporate and philanthropic investment in supportive housing has been bolstered by research documenting its effectiveness. To date, these studies indicate:

• Positive impacts on health.  Decreases of more than 50% in tenants' emergency room visits and hospital inpatient days; decreases in tenants' use of emergency detoxification services by more than 80%; and increases in the use of preventive health care services.
  
• Positive impacts on employment.  Increases of 50% in earned income and 40% in the rate of participant employment when employment services are provided in supportive housing, and a significant decrease in dependence on entitlements - a $1,448 decrease per tenant each year.
  
• Positive impacts on treating mental illness.  At least a third of those people living in streets and shelters have a severe and persistent mental illness.  Supportive housing has proven to be a popular and effective approach for many mentally ill people, as it affords both independence and as-needed support.  A study of nearly 900 homeless people with mental illness provided with supportive housing found 83.5% of participants remained housed a year later, and that participants experienced a decrease in symptoms of schizophrenia and depression.*  A study of almost 5,000 homeless individuals with mental illness placed in supportive housing through the NY/NY program confirmed that nearly 80% remained housed a year later, with 10% moving on to independent settings.
  
• Positive impacts on reducing or ending substance use.  Once people with histories of substance use achieve sobriety, their living situation is often a factor in their ability to stay clean and sober.  A one-year follow-up study of 201 graduates of the Eden Programs chemical dependency treatment programs in Minneapolis found that 56.6% of those living independently remained sober; 56.5% of those living in a halfway house remained sober; 57.1% of those living in an unsupported SRO remained sober; while 90% of those living in supportive housing remained sober.

Data gathered by the Corporation for Supportive Housing from the following sources:

1. Supportive Housing and Its Impact on the Public Health Crisis of Homelessness, Corporation for Supportive Housing, 2000.
   
2. Anishinabe Wakiagun Residents’ Use of Emergency Services in Hennepin County, Minnesota, 2001
   
3. US Dept. of Health and Human Services. Making a Difference: Report of the McKinney Research Demonstration Program for Homeless Mentally Ill Adults. 1994.
   

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Other questions & answers related to this topic:

What is supportive housing?

Does supportive housing have the "look and feel" of other types of housing?

How does supportive housing work to end homelessness?

What is the cost of supportive housing?

What are some examples of communities where permanent supportive housing has been used effectively?

What are the key principles of supportive housing?

What types of services are typically provided in supportive housing programs?