Best Practice Research For New Projects

​Homelessness and substance abuse are often two problems that continue to be linked together. However, homelessness can be an effect of substance abuse and vice versa. Addiction problems disrupt family organization and job performance resulting in loss of housing. While homeless, recovering from an addiction can be hard with lack of resources and the ability to access the appropriate care. In the following sections of this paper we will look at interventions and its effectiveness in the helping process, a multi-cultural analysis on the effects of homelessness, social and

A halfway house that is fully functioning offers several pros and cons to nearby neighborhoods. It calculating present can be defined in social and financial terms. However, I would not support a half-way house being opened in my neighborhood. In order for one to understand my point of view and meaning of half-way houses, I must first dissect how these dwellings can support or oppose a community lifestyle. One major concern of a half-way house being opened in a neighborhood is safe. When a halfway house is located in a surrounding area there is a chance of insecurity among potential homeowners. Half-way houses provide a place of residence for individuals that have or struggled with major problems including mental illnesses or drug abuse. This

The DC government has been implementing Rapid Re-Housing programs in response to the homelessness crisis that the nation’s capital has been facing for years. The Rapid Re-Housing models were implemented across the country through the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP), as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009 (Anderson, 2015). Rapid Re-Housing is mainly an intervention, informed by a Housing First approach. Housing First is a critical part of the community’s effective homeless crisis response system (Anderson, 2015). The program attempts to connect families and individuals experiencing homelessness to permanent housing through personalized programs of assistance that may include the use of limited-time

was developed by the Skid Row Housing Trust with the intention of fighting homelessness with a holistic model to break the cycle of homeless. This particular organization inhabits the complexes with qualified individuals to connect residents with on-site case management, medical care, mental health services, substance use treatment, advocacy and community building (Skid Row Housing Trust, n.d.). The ground floor of the complex is occupied by the Department of Health Services’ Housing for Health division headquarters whose programs aims to house 10,000 of the county’s sickest, most vulnerable homeless in the following decade (Holland,

Homelessness in the United States can be ended, not just maintained. Allot of cities now have plans to eradicate homelessness. Homelessness and housing instability are large issues that afflict a diverse demographic such as: Families, youth, veterans, and chronically homeless single male adults. Ending homelessness may require specialized solutions that are specific to individual needs. Factors like these make defeating homelessness a difficult task. Although solutions exist for some of the demographics, such as housing for chronically homeless adults, scaling up best practices remains a challenge. For other subpopulations, such as transitional aged youth, evidence-based interventions need to be developed. In this paper we argue that ending homelessness is a Grand Challenge that is big, important, and compelling—one that the profession of social work should be adopt. Meeting this challenge will require a focused, organized response from social work researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Ending homelessness will require innovation and interdisciplinary or cross-sector collaboration. Key words: Housing First, Permanent Supportive Housing, rapid re-housing, prevention, poverty. The notion that homelessness in the United States can be ended, rather than managed (Mangano, 2002; National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2012), represents a fundamental shift in expectations from the 1980s and ’90s. Since the early 2000s, researchers, policymakers, advocates,

There is a small, but growing, body of evidence on the efficacy of rapid re-housing. Drawing on program data and early findings from evaluations in progress, this brief

One way D.C. can enhance the performance of Rapid Re-Housing programs and lower the rate of individuals/families returning back to homelessness is to emulate the model that NYC has been following for the past few years. A few years ago NYC launched the Home to Stay program (Bornstein, 2014). Home to Stay is a partnership between New York’s Department of Homeless Services and four other organizations committed to fighting homelessness (Bornstein, 2014). Home to Stay uses an evidence-based protocol known as Family Critical Time Intervention which is intended to motivate individuals and heads of families over nine months to take an advantage of support services, such as addiction and mental health counseling, conflict mediation, and improvement of job prospects (Bornstein, 2014). The program follows an extensive and rigorous screening procedure in order identify and select the most vulnerable and needy homeless individuals and families who must have access to the supportive services the program provides (Bornstein, 2014). Though Home to Stay does not target the homelessness population as a whole, program expansion is a future possibility. While there is no concrete data that measures the performance of Home to Stay, testimonies from individuals and families that participated in the program indicate that there is a promising future (Bornstein, 2014). Individuals and families that were previously homeless believe that Home to Stay is a

First, government provides housing assistance to low-income families. Low-income families just need pay 30% of their total income for rent. Second, mainstream programs provide a safety net for homelessness. This net makes mainstream programs like housing assistance, welfare, and substance support could provide what homelessness need quickly. Third, Communities created a data system to record information about homelessness. These information could be analyzed to help people know the cause of people become homeless, how long people become homeless, what exactly homeless people need, and the effect of mainstream’s support. Government already saw some positive influence of these programs. The number of family homelessness decreased 43 percent in Hennepin Country. New York creased 11 percent of homeless families was placed by a permanent housing. (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2010)

According to the 2012 Annual Homeless Assessment Report released by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an estimated 62,619 veterans were homeless on any given night in 2012. The good news is that the estimate represents a 7.2 percent decline from the 2011 estimate and a 17.2 percent decline compared to the 2009 estimate ("Veterans," 2013). Although progress is being made, there is much to be done. There are veterans with the same needs as the general homeless population, but also veterans with severe physical and mental health disabilities, related to their service, that necessitate permanent housing with supportive services.

The goal is to help individuals gain and keep permanent housing. In addition, it will also offer an In-House Recovery Program, which is dedicated to helping free individuals from substance abuse.

According to Donovan, S and Shinseki, E.K. of the American Journal of Public Health, the suggestion to combat this issue is to reenforce intervention strategies of certain government organizations that work and to funnel federal resources to those strategies (Donovan, 2013). One of the main factors for why people are homeless is due to the mental and physical illness and substance abuse. Effective intervention strategies must be achieved in order to combat homelessness and to ensure veterans are receiving aid they deserve. An example of improving intervention would be to increase investment in effective, evidence-based programs utilizing such as the Housing First model created by the VA which helps assist veterans with access to health care, employment and other supportive services that promote long-term housing stability, reduce recidivism and improve quality of

There are a number of Medicaid sections and demonstration programs that allow reimbursement for housing-related services to promote community integration. Authorities and programs that allow reimbursement include: 1915(c) HCBS Waivers, 1915(i) HCBS State Plan Optional Benefit, 1915(1b) Community First Choice State Plan optional Benefit, 1915(b) Waivers, 1905(a) State Plan Services, Section 1115 Research and Demonstration Programs and Money Follows the Person demonstration.1Some of these authorities offer greater coverage opportunity than others.1 Medicaid offices have the opportunity to play an important role in convening state program offices and other partners to identify other non-Medicaid funding sources to support

Strengths and Weaknesses for Integrated Treatment In a perfect world, integrated treatment approaches for all clients is a thorough, thoughtful, and positive approach to the overall recovery of the individual, especially for those with co-occurring disorders. Currently, through my professional work as a drug and alcohol case manager, both site and field-based, I see the strengths as a collaborative and integrated approach to treatment for these individuals, including a variety of programs and professionals, ranging from drug and alcohol treatment providers, mental health counselors, psychiatrists, and certified recovery and peer specialists. Van Wormer and Davis (2018) highlighted the evidence-based Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) approach

Montgomery ( 2013)proposes a three tiered plan to prevent homelessness through intervention and eventually end homelessness among persons with mental illness as seen in Figure 1 below. This plan of primary homelessness prevention interventions would include wide-ranging efforts that target broad groups and only indirectly address homelessness. Initiatives that would reduce poverty and increase household incomes that are

So far, with our readings, we have focused more on making sure we hear residents out when it comes to issues in their community. I do realize now how valuable it is to not only hear residents out, but to have them be a part of the physical implementation and management of programs and interventions. People tend to care more about what they are a part of and what they helped create. This also gives oppressed and impoverished communities the opportunity to empower themselves with the help of stakeholders in their community.