The Commonwealth's Premier Housing First Initiative:
Home & Healthy for Good
This page is dedicated to historical information on Home & Healthy for Good.
SPRING 2008
MHSA Submits March 2008 Home & Healthy for Good Report to Legislature
Statewide Housing First initiative reports dramatic cost savings to Commonwealth
Home & Healthy for Good continues to move the Commonwealth ever closer to a humane, efficient, and cost-effective solution to chronic homelessness. An evaluation of the Housing First program, with a focus on the cost per participant and projected cost savings in state-funded programs, is ongoing. Recent highlights include:
- As of February 19, 2008, 247 formerly homeless people have been housed across Massachusetts.
- Tenant retention stands at 83%.
- For the 197 participants who participate in the research study component:
- The annual costs per person, including the cost of housing and services, decreased from $31,892 before housing to $25,242 after housing placement, an annual savings to the state of $6,650 per person. Most of these savings are a result of a drastic decrease in costly inpatient medical care.
Click here for the full report. Click here to see a video featuring Home & Healthy for Good tenants.
DECEMBER 2007
MHSA Submits Updated Home & Healthy for Good Report to Legislature
Statewide Housing First initiative reports dramatic cost savings to Commonwealth
Housing First represents a significant paradigm shift in addressing the costly phenomenon of homelessness. This strategy demonstrates impressive outcomes when chronically homeless people are supported in a permanent, housed environment, rather than targeted for intensive services in shelters or streets. As a result of mounting evidence from around the country that Housing First strategies result in tremendous cost savings to cities and states and a decrease in the incidence of chronic homelessness, the Massachusetts Legislature passed line item 4406-3010 in the FY07 state budget to fund a pilot Housing First program for 130 chronically homeless individuals.
The state allocated funds to MHSA through the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to operate the program, known as Home & Healthy for Good (HHG). An evaluation of this pilot program, with a focus on the cost per participant and projected cost savings in state-funded programs, is ongoing. An initial report was submitted to the Massachusetts Legislature in March 2007, and an updated report with data on 184 of 229 participants was submitted in December 2007. These findings indicate a projected annual cost savings to the Commonwealth of $9,379 per person housed. Other highlights:
- As of December 1, 2007, 229 formerly homeless people have been housed across Massachusetts.
- For the 184 participants studied:
- The average length of homelessness upon entry into the program is 5 years.
- The costs per person per month, including the cost of housing and services, decreased from $2,720 before housing to $1,939 after housing placement, a monthly savings of $781 per person. Most of these savings are a result of a drastic decrease in costly inpatient medical care.
Click here for the full report. Click here to see a video featuring Home and Healthy for Good tenants.
SUMMER 2007
Governor Patrick Signs FY 08 State Budget
Home & Healthy for Good funding doubled
The final FY 2008 state budget doubled funding for the Commonwealth’s premier Housing First initiative, adding momentum to the effort to end homelessness through permanent residential solutions.
Home & Healthy for Good, Line Item 4406-3010, was funded at $1.2 million in the state spending plan, approved by the House and Senate on July 2, 2007. On July 12, Gov. Patrick signed the budget into law.
“Through this budget, the Legislature and Gov. Patrick have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to homeless people in the Commonwealth,” said Joe Finn, executive director of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA). “Home & Healthy for Good represents a major shift in thinking that is taking place across the state and across the country. We have seen that it is more effective – and less costly – to move chronically homeless individuals into permanent supportive housing rather than let them linger on the streets and in shelters day after day, year after year.”
Unlike last year, Home & Healthy for Good appeared in both the House and Senate budget proposals. While the House proposal had originally level funded the initiative for FY 2008, the conference committee agreed to go with the $1.2 million figure found in the Senate budget proposal.
“I was so pleased to see Home & Healthy show up in both the House and Senate budgets this year,” Finn added. “It’s great to see that branches, chambers, political parties and ideologies need not be an issue when coming up with practical solutions for homelessness.”
MHSA is currently working with service providers across the state to place chronically homeless individuals in permanent housing. As of July, more than 150 individuals have moved into their own apartments. MHSA is collecting cost and outcome data on the participants of the Home & Healthy for Good program, and initial results have shown a cost-savings of more than $11,000 per person per year.
The final FY 2008 state budget also included: a $564,0000 increase in an earmark in the Department of Mental Health budget to provide housing for the homeless mentally ill; level funding for the Tenancy Preservation Program, which helps disabled renters maintain their tenancies; continued funding for a statewide homeless management information system to collect data about homeless service clients; a slight funding increase for Line Item 4406-3000, which funds homeless services and shelter for homeless individuals; and level funding for the Special Initiative to House the Homeless Mentally Ill.
“We commend the Legislature and Gov. Patrick for their commitment to homeless people across the state,” Finn said. “While they have maintained current levels of funding to deal with the immediate crisis on hand, they have also shown a desire to move closer to ending the social disgrace of homelessness.”
EARLY SUMMER 2007
MHSA Submits Updated Home and Healthy for Good Report to Legislature
Statewide Housing First initiative reports dramatic cost savings to Commonwealth
Housing First represents a significant paradigm shift in addressing the costly phenomenon of homelessness. This strategy demonstrates impressive outcomes when chronically homeless people are supported in a permanent, housed environment, rather than targeted for intensive services in shelters or streets. As a result of mounting evidence from around the country that Housing First strategies result in tremendous cost savings to cities and states and a decrease in the incidence of chronic homelessness, the Massachusetts Legislature passed line item 4406-3010 in the FY07 state budget to fund a pilot Housing First program for 130 chronically homeless individuals.
The state allocated funds to MHSA through the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to operate the program, known as Home and Healthy for Good (HHG). An evaluation of this pilot program, with a focus on the cost per participant and projected cost savings in state-funded programs, is ongoing. An initial report was submitted to the Massachusetts Legislature in March 2007, and an updated report with data on 95 of 155 participants was submitted in June 2007. These preliminary findings indicate a projected annual cost savings to the Commonwealth of $11,016 per person housed. Other highlights:
- As of June 1, 2007, 155 formerly homeless people have been housed across Massachusetts.
- For the 95 participants studied:
- The average length of homelessness upon entry into the program is 6.5 years.
- The costs per person per month, including the cost of housing and services, decreased from $2,720 before housing to $1,802 after housing placement, a monthly savings of $918 per person. Most of these savings are a result of a drastic decrease in costly inpatient medical care.
Click here for the full report. Click here to see a video featuring Home and Healthy for Good tenants.
MARCH 2007
MHSA Submits Home and Healthy for Good Report to Legislature
Statewide Housing First initiative reports successful outcomes
Housing First represents a significant paradigm shift in addressing the costly phenomenon of homelessness. This strategy demonstrates impressive outcomes when chronically homeless people are supported in a permanent, housed environment, rather than targeted for intensive services in shelters or streets. As a result of mounting evidence from around the country that Housing First strategies result in tremendous cost savings to cities and states and a decrease in the incidence of chronic homelessness, the Massachusetts Legislature passed line item 4406-3010 in the FY07 state budget to fund a pilot Housing First program for 130 chronically homeless individuals.
The state allocated funds to MHSA through the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to operate the program, known as Home and Healthy for Good (HHG). An evaluation of this pilot program, with a focus on the cost per participant and projected cost savings in state-funded programs, is ongoing. Initial findings from the preliminary report include projected annual cost savings of $21,216 per person housed. Other highlights:
- As of March 1, 2007, 77 formerly homeless people have been housed across Massachusetts.
- The average length of homelessness upon entry into the program is 3.75 years.
- 89% of participants receive MassHealth benefits.
- For the 36 participants from whom post-housing follow-up data has been received, the costs per person per month, including the cost of housing and services, decreased from $3,211 to $1,443 after housing placement. Most of these savings are a result of a drastic decrease in costly inpatient medical care.
An updated report with data as of June 1 will be available in coming weeks.
