This page is dedicated to historical information on Home & Healthy for Good.
Highlights of the March 2011 Home & Healthy for Good Report:
Click here for the full report
December 2010 Highlights:
Click here for the full report.
March 2010 Highlights:
Click here for the full report.
December 2009 Highlights:

Click here for the full report.
SUMMER 2009 Highlights

Click here for the full report.
Click here to read the Medicaid data press release.
MARCH 2009 Highlights
Click here for the full report.
Click here to read an editorial about these findings from the Boston Sunday Globe.
DECEMBER 2008 Highlights

Click here for the full report.
SUMMER 2008 Highlights
Click here for the full report. Click here to see a video featuring Home & Healthy for Good tenants.
SPRING 2008 Highlights
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:
Click here for the full report. Click here to see a video featuring Home and Healthy for Good tenants.
AUTUMN 2007
MHSA Presents Home & Healthy for Good to State Commission to End Homelessness
The Massachusetts Commission to End Homelessness has identified Home & Healthy for Good, the statewide Housing First initiative overseen by MHSA, as a “best practice” in ending homelessness.
On September 20, 2007, at the invitation of the Commission, MHSA Executive Director Joe Finn and Physician Advocate Dr. Jessie Gaeta presented the concept of Housing First - and specifically the experience of the Home & Healthy for Good initiative – at the fifth Commission meeting. The Commission was created by legislation sponsored by Representative Byron Rushing, Senator Steven C. Panagiotakos and Senator Dianne Wilkerson. Commission members include representatives of the executive and legislative branches of government, state agencies, leaders of local municipalities and service providers. The Commission is charged with the task of recommending a broad-based housing plan to end homelessness in Massachusetts.
Finn and Gaeta shared the results of Home & Healthy for Good, a Housing First initiative funded by the Commonwealth, that has seen impressive results in its first year of operation. To date, more than 200 chronically homeless individuals have been housed and given access to intensive case management. The average retention rate in housing stands at 85%.
Finn and Gaeta also presented statistics on the dramatic cost savings, particularly in health care services, that are being realized through a Housing First strategy. They noted the differences between a Housing First approach and the traditional continuum of care model: Housing First moves away from a linear model of care that designates housing as the end result of compliance-based programs. Many of the hardest to serve, particularly those with disabilities, have difficulty navigating such a complex service system. A Housing First approach is predicated on two convictions: first, that housing is a basic human need, not a reward for clinical success; and second, that once the chaos of homelessness is eliminated from a person’s life, clinical and social stabilization occur faster and are more enduring.
After the presentation, Finn, appointed by Governor Patrick as a Commission member, noted “We were pleased by the invitation to present and are very excited that the Commission is seriously considering a more cost-effective and strategic use of resources for ending homelessness in the Commonwealth.”
Finn and Gaeta also presented to the City of Worcester task force on homelessness. MHSA is available for presentations about Housing First and Home & Healthy for Good. Contact Erin Donohue for further information. For the PowerPoint of the presentation to the Commission, click here.
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:
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:
An updated report with data as of June 1 will be available in coming weeks.