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.

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.

This book contains diverse chapters examining homelessness from a myriad of perspectives, from global perspectives to clinical perspectives. An international group of authors consider clinical and theoretical factors in the lives of people that are homeless and the services and policies that affect their lives. The international chapters provide different perspectives regarding the culturally-embedded nature of our perceptions of homelessness including definitions of homelessness, mental illness, and the expectations of family and support systems. These chapters include information from Ireland, a number of Asian countries, South Africa, Spain, the Czech Republic, and North America. From within the United States, the book presents different models for understanding, developing, and disseminating interventions for people that are homeless, and have mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders. The book explores the needs of special populations such as racial and ethnic minorities as well as those who experience mild developmental delays as well as mental illness and homelessness. Two chapters explore attitudes towards people that are homeless and that may have behavioral health problems. Finally, the role of climate and the forces of nature are reviewed for unique perspectives on homelessness. These multidisciplinary perspectives on an important issue are both thought-provoking and educational.

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.

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

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.

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.

The often-tenuous relationship between law enforcement and communities of color, namely African Americans, has grown increasingly strained, and the call for justice has once again ignited the demand for criminal justice reform. Rebuilding the trust between the police and the citizens that they have sworn to protect and serve requires that criminal justice practitioners and educators collaborate with elected officials and commit to an open, ongoing dialogue on the most challenging issues that remain unresolved but demand collective attention and support. Reform measures are not limited to policing policies and practices, but rather extend throughout the criminal justice system. There is no denying that the criminal justice system as we know it is flawed, but not beyond repair. Global Perspectives on Reforming the Criminal Justice System provides in-depth and current research about the criminal justice system around the world, its many inadequacies, and why it urgently needs reformation. Offering a fully fleshed outline of the current system, this book details the newest research and is incredibly important to fully understand the flaws of the criminal justice system across the globe. The goals of this book are to improve and advance the criminal justice system by addressing the glaring weaknesses within the system and discuss potential reforms including decreasing the prison population (decarceration) and improving police/community relations. Highlighting topics that include accountability, community-oriented policing, ethics, and mass incarceration, this book is ideal for law enforcement officers, trainers/educators, government officials, policymakers, correctional officers, court officials, professionals, researchers, academicians, and students in the fields of criminal justice, criminology, sociology, psychology, addictions, mental health, social work, public policy, and public administration.

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.

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.