What is it and how does it contribute to ending homelessness?

Studies show that supportive housing services benefit both individuals and the community. Living without stable housing often prevents people from addressing physical health conditions, and it can cause mental health conditions and substance use disorders to worsen. People with these and other health issues often end up in crisis situations while living on the streets, and emergency rooms become the only healthcare they can access.

Supportive housing interrupts this cycle. Studies show that it saves community costs in the long term by reducing the burden on emergency health services. Supportive housing can reduce arrests and incarceration, which can traumatize and stigmatize individuals and put further cost burdens on the community.

Wraparound services begin with a caseworker who is able to provide connections to the larger support system, including community-based organizations. These wraparound services help people regain and maintain housing stability. Specific service areas include:

• Housing placement services
• Help paying rent (both short- and long-term rent assistance)
• Advocacy and case management
• Services in the areas of mental health, physical health, language and cultural needs, education, employment, addiction and recovery, and others

Supporting physical and behavioral health plays a central role in helping people remain housed after leaving homelessness. These supports may include providing access to physical and behavioral health services, and access to support and other interventions for people living with physical impairments or disabilities.

Job training and other services that help people reenter the job market play an important role in keeping people housed. These services help people sustain or regain income so they can afford to remain in housing. Services may include peer mentoring while learning job skills and building confidence for future employment opportunities.