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Housing First for Homeless Persons with Active Addiction: Are We Overreaching?
Author(s) -
KERTESZ STEFAN G.,
CROUCH KIMBERLY,
MILBY JESSE B.,
CUSIMANO ROBERT E.,
SCHUMACHER JOSEPH E.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the milbank quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1468-0009
pISSN - 0887-378X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00565.x
Subject(s) - sobriety , addiction , housing first , context (archaeology) , psychological intervention , rehabilitation , psychology , addiction treatment , supportive housing , psychiatry , medicine , mental health , mental illness , paleontology , biology , neuroscience
Context: More than 350 communities in the United States have committed to ending chronic homelessness. One nationally prominent approach, Housing First, offers early access to permanent housing without requiring completion of treatment or, for clients with addiction, proof of sobriety. Methods: This article reviews studies of Housing First and more traditional rehabilitative (e.g., “linear”) recovery interventions, focusing on the outcomes obtained by both approaches for homeless individuals with addictive disorders. Findings: According to reviews of comparative trials and case series reports, Housing First reports document excellent housing retention, despite the limited amount of data pertaining to homeless clients with active and severe addiction. Several linear programs cite reductions in addiction severity but have shortcomings in long‐term housing success and retention. Conclusions: This article suggests that the current research data are not sufficient to identify an optimal housing and rehabilitation approach for an important homeless subgroup. The research regarding Housing First and linear approaches can be strengthened in several ways, and policymakers should be cautious about generalizing the results of available Housing First studies to persons with active addiction when they enter housing programs.