SAMHSA Homeless Project Featured in Journal Special Edition
 

 An ongoing Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)-sponsored study of interventions to prevent homelessness will be presented as a special issue of the journal, Alcohol Treatment Quarterly, published today.

 The journal articles describe eight innovative programs being studied for results in combating homelessness by two SAMHSA centers, The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS).  The articles are the work of eight authors,  including Patricia Hanrahan, Lawrence D. Rickards, Daniel J. Luchins, Kendon J. Conrad and Michael D. Matters of CMHS, James Herrell and Cheryl Gallagher of CSAT, and Deirdre Oakley.

 There is little literature for professionals to guide the development of programs to prevent homelessness.  At the same time, the face of homelessness is changing from individuals to families.  Therefore, the publication of details about these programs and the descriptions of their philosophical underpinnings is expected to be useful to the field even though it is too early to include results in the study.  Professionals in the field will have an array of homelessness prevention strategies dealing with combating alcoholism, drug abuse and mental illness, summarized concisely in this special issue.

 "Single female-headed families and their children are the fastest growing segment of this nation's homeless population, with 100,000 children nationwide sleeping in emergency shelters, abandoned buildings, or on the street," said SAMHSA Administrator Nelba Chavez.  "SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment are investing $4.8 million in grants designed to help these homeless children and their mothers.  We, at SAMHSA, commend the editors at Alcohol Treatment Quarterly for publishing these articles on the eight homelessness programs now under study," she added.

 "It is gratifying that a respected journal anticipates that information on the CMHS-CSAT cooperative agreement is so vital that it will publish the theories and logic behind the homelessness prevention projects even before we have data to determine what works best under what circumstances.  CSAT will definitely give information to the field on outcomes analysis as soon as it becomes available," CSAT Director H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D., M.P.H. said.

"The true significance of this program is the attention that it focused on the prevention of homelessness among persons who are at high risk.  We have a good understanding of engaging people who are homeless in treatment.  But this group of studies will help us avoid having them fall through the cracks and returning to homelessness," Bernard Arons, M.D., Director of CMHS, said.

 The programs outlined in the journal include:

•    A residential program provided by Gaudenzia, Inc. In West Chester, Pennsylvania, targeting mothers recovering from substance abuse who are living with their children;
•   The PROUD Project provided by Arapahoe House Inc. In Thornton, Colorado, featuring case management for women with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders;
•   The Boley Center for Behavioral Healthcare, Inc. of St. Petersburg, Florida, model consisting of a cluster of housing-related support services for persons with serious mental illnesses and those with co-occurring substance use disorders;
•   The Community Connections program in Washington, D.C., that targets persons with serious mental illness and those with co-occurring substance use disorders and provides a broad range of housing options to keep people in homes;
•   The Pathways to Housing, Inc., project in New York City that allows clients with serious mental illnesses and those with co-occurring substance use disorders to select their own independent apartments;
•   The Philadelphia Health Management Corporation project that provides housing intervention with support services;
•   The Barbour and Floyd Medical Associates program in Lynwood, California, that is aimed at families caring for family members with serious mental illnesses as well as those with co-occurring substance use disorders; and
•   The Illinois Department of Human Services program in Chicago that operates a client bank to deal with money management problems of those suffering from serious mental illnesses and those with co-occurring substance use disorders.