Accomplishments

For more than 20 years, MHSA has been initiating solutions to end homelessness in the Commonwealth. MHSA educates about the plight of homeless people and solutions that work to end their struggle, advocates for strategic use of public and private dollars based on research and best practices and innovates more cost-effective and efficient solutions to end homelessness. Above all, MHSA collaborates with all levels of government and the private sector to bring our poorest neighbors home for good.

MHSA Accomplishments:

• Advocated for the creation of the first-ever line item in the Massachusetts state budget that funds a statewide Housing First initiative. Home & Healthy for Good, instituted in the FY07 state budget, has demonstrated dramatic cost savings across systems of care and saved the Commonwealth tens of thousands of dollars per year through its innovative approach to providing housing with services for chronically homeless individuals. Continued cost savings and high housing retention rates among Home & Healthy for Good (HHG) tenants resulted in a doubling of funding for the initiative in the FY08 state budget. Other highlights include:
  
  
  • Home & Healthy for Good has placed more than 500 individuals into housing with supportive services with a tenancy retention rate of approximately 82 percent. As of June 2011, estimated annual cost savings to the state stand at $9,610 per person. MHSA continues to collect comprehensive data on formerly homeless tenants to evaluate the effectiveness of a Housing First approach in both human and financial terms.
    
    
  • The Massachusetts Commission to End Homelessness (MCEH) named Home & Healthy for Good a “best practice” in ending homelessness. Joe Finn and Dr. Jessie Gaeta traveled extensively to present the concept and results of HHG to health care practitioners and policy makers.
    
    
  • Continued production of HHG evaluation reports for submission to the state Legislature, Administration and posting on the MHSA web site, www.mhsa.net. Housing First, HHG and MHSA continue to attract media attention and numerous articles and op-ed pieces.
    
    
• Advocated for and participated in the creation of the Massachusetts Commission to End Homelessness (MCEH). MHSA Executive Director Joe Finn served as a commission member and chaired the Individual Working Group. MHSA had significant input into the five-year plan to end homelessness issued by the MCEH.
  
  
• Promoted the revitalization of the Massachusetts Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (MICHH) to implement the plan to end homelessness, which brings together state agencies to formulate a more unified response to homelessness. MHSA and its member agencies serve on many of the committees, playing a critical role in planning and collaboration as the state crafts its approach to ending homelessness.
  
  
• Advocated for the institution of a new line item in the FY 09 state budget to fund implementation of the Massachusetts five-year plan to end homelessness and a total of $10 million in new dollars for the goal of ending homelessness in Massachusetts.
  
  
• Received the Department of Mental Health (DMH) Commissioner’s Distinguished Service Award in Advocacy.
  
  
• Continued the partnership with the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (MBHP) to expand reimbursement of case management services through Medicaid. The Community Support Program for People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness (C-SPECH), a Housing First initiative that uses this model, expanded from a pilot to a statewide program.
  
  
• Assisted member agencies in Framingham and Quincy to increase the number of permanent housing units, resulting in the ability of these agencies to close emergency shelters.
  
  
• The development of a statewide Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) through the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) that will help prevent homelessness by tracking discharges of persons from various state systems of care.
  
  
• Revitalized outreach to faith communities through the renewal of Social Action Massachusetts (SAM) and established the MHSA Young Professionals Group.