Resources: Homeless Count 2009 Findings

Permanent Supportive Housing Created in Alameda County since 2005

Benefits of Permanent Supportive Housing

Residents increase their ability to access and maintain housing and

• More than 80% stay housed for at least one year.

Reduce their use of crisis and institutional services

• ER visits down 57%
• Emergency detox services use down 85%
• Incarceration rate down 50%

What is Permanent Supportive Housing?

Taken from the Corporation for Supportive Housing website: www.csh.org

A Better Approach

Supportive housing is a successful, cost-effective combination of affordable housing with services that helps people live more stable, productive lives.  The effectiveness of supportive housing in ending homelessness has depended upon a willingness to take risks and experiment with new models, approaches, and strategies. 

A supportive housing unit is defined by the following elements:

• The unit is available to, and intended for, a person or family whose head of household is homeless, or at-risk of homelessness, and has multiple barriers to employment and housing stability, which might include mental illness, chemical dependency, and/or other disabling or chronic health conditions;
• The tenant household ideally pays no more than 30% household income towards rent and utilities, and never pays more than 50% of income toward such housing expenses;
• The tenant household has a lease (or similar form of occupancy agreement) with no limits on length of tenancy, as long as the terms and conditions of the lease or agreement are met;
• The unit’s operations are managed through an effective partnership among representatives of the project owner and/or sponsor, the property management agent, the supportive services providers, the relevant public agencies, and the tenants;
• All members of the tenant household have easy, facilitated access to a flexible and comprehensive array of supportive services designed to assist the tenants to achieve and sustain housing stability.
• Service providers proactively seek to engage tenants in on-site and community-based supportive services, but participation in such supportive services is not a condition of ongoing tenancy.
• Service and property management strategies include effective, coordinated approaches for addressing issues resulting from substance use, relapse, and mental health crises, with a focus on fostering housing stability.

A Range of Housing Models

While there may not be a single perfect model, there are a number of preferred housing models for supportive housing.  The housing setting will vary dramatically and be based on a range of factors including the tenant’s preference, the type of housing stock available, and the norms and history of a local community’s real estate market, and might include: 

• Apartment or single-room occupancy (SRO) buildings, townhouses, or single-family homes that exclusively house formerly homeless individuals and/or families;
• Apartment or SRO buildings, or townhouses that mix special-needs housing with general affordable housing;
• Rent-subsidized apartments leased in the open market; and
• Long-term set-asides of units within privately owned buildings.

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