Permanent Supportive Housing for the Homeless Essay

Homeless Individuals With Mental Illness and Permanent Supportive Housing

Homeless people with severe mental illness have a difficult time transitioning into a more stable living condition. Finding permanent supportive housing for mentally ill homeless persons can be essential to helping to improve their condition and quality of life, and yet such housing can be rare due to lack of funds and/or governmental support/oversight.



Question to be Addressed



What interventions help homeless individuals with severe mental illness transition into a more stable living condition; specifically, does supportive housing translate into better quality of life for homeless individuals with mental illness -- and if so, how?



Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)



PSH can be defined as a combination of housing and services oriented towards helping persons with serious mental health issues who require support for stable living. PSH acts as a housing community that combines shelter with health care.



The effect of PSH on homeless individuals with mental health issues is overwhelmingly positive (Tsemberis, Gulcur, Nakae, 2004; Martinez, Burt, 2006; Rog et al., 2014). Homeless individuals who suffer from mental illness who are able to receive PSH are reported to spend less time in the emergency room receiving care from hospital providers. They are also more likely to be able to live stably and independently as a result of PSH intervention.



As the research shows, it is important for government to support permanent supportive housing for homeless persons for a number of reasons: first, it reduces the burden placed on community stakeholders as a result of costs incurred/associated with treating mentally ill homeless persons who receive care from emergency rooms in hospitals (Rog et al., 2014; Tsemberis et al., 2004). The tax paying citizens who must ultimately shoulder the bill for these services may thus be in this manner reimbursed and their own load lightened, as research has indicated that PSH cuts costs associated with ER visits. Second, government can stabilize communities by offering PSH for homeless mentally ill persons and give them a place where they can receive care, be off the streets, and be adequately provided for, thus allowing for social workers and community organizers to provide housing for the homeless and clean up their neighborhoods (Martinez, Burt, 2006).

Introduction

Homeless persons with mental illness are a serious problem for society, because they are often left to fend for themselves and cannot live up to the task without help. They require quality medical care…