title: Impact of chronically street homeless tenants in congregate supportive housing.
abstract: New initiatives to house chronically street homeless (CSH) adults have led to increasing proportions of this population living in congregate supportive housing, but little is known about the impact of this shift on supportive housing programs. The present multisite, mixed-methods study examined service utilization and lease compliance among 52 chronically street homeless and 46 long-term shelter stayer (LTSS) adults during their first 12 months in congregate supportive housing. Quantitative analysis of administrative data revealed that CSH tenants used significantly more service resources than LTSS tenants, including more advocacy, escorting, and psychiatric treatment and more assistance with financial, housing, and mental and physical health issues. The 2 groups did not differ significantly on measures of lease compliance. Qualitative focus groups with CSH tenants, service provider staff, and property management staff all indicated that existing supportive housing services are suitable for this population, although some adjustments, additional resources, or both, may be indicated.
authors.affiliation: Center for Urban Community Services, 198 E. 121st St., 5th floor, New York, NY 10035, USA. alevitt@cucs.org
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jost
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Mergl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hannigan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Degenova
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006798:Housing / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011638:Public Housing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012947:Social Work / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data