Transcript PPT | 5.28 MB | 23 pages - National Alliance to End Homelessness

Opening Doors to Independence
Supporting Families with Serious
Mental Illness
The Neighborhood Properties Inc.
Scattered Site
“Supportive Housing” Model
National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness
National Alliance on Ending Homelessness
February 9, 2007
Opening Doors to Independence
Corporate Purpose
NPI’s Mission –
To develop and manage
a continuum of stable
and supportive housing
for persons with a
serious mental illness
and co-occurring
disorders.
Opening Doors to Independence
The Supportive Housing Environment
1. In 1988 there were over 240 patients from Lucas
County (455,000 citizens) receiving long term
psychiatric care in the State operated hospital;
today there are 20 people at any point in time.
2. Today it costs $14,400 to keep one person in a
psychiatric hospital bed for one month, verses
$630 for one month of supportive housing.
Opening Doors to Independence
Supportive Housing Resources Today
• 700 apartment units
proactively rented to
people with a serious
mental illness, and
people who are
homeless.
• 18% of the units (124)
are rented to families
where an adult member
has a serious mental
illness.
Opening Doors to Independence
Specialized programs
• Homeless Families with
Mental Illness – HUD
Supportive Housing Program
• Twelve scattered site
apartment buildings for
families that include an adult
with a serious mental illness.
• NPI provides housing
support services to the
families in coordination with
Community Mental Health
providers.
Opening Doors to Independence
Specialized programs
• Fresh Start – HUD
Supportive Housing
Program 12 rehabilitated
units for homeless young
mothers with infants.
• Clinical services are
provided by a treatment
agency.
• NPI provides on site
housing support and
management.
Opening Doors to Independence
Specialized programs
Families with a mental
illness expansion – HUD
Supportive Housing
Program 12 rehabilitated
units for consumers and
their children.
• Clinical services are
provided by a treatment
agency.
• NPI provides on site
housing support and
management.
Opening Doors to Independence
Program Features
From our experience of working with families the
following program features are required in order to restore
families when a member has a mental illness Assemble a multidisciplinary team of community professionals involved in the
lives of these families – criminal justice, mental health professional, family
members, children services, legal aide, religious, etc. Use this team to guide the
recovery of the tenants. Conduct regular meetings or communication with all
participates.
Build a rapport, show genuine concern for them and what situations has taken
place in their lives that brought them to our agency. Tenants need to trust you. Get
to know their history, what has caused the separation, homelessness, what actions
were taken, what worked and what didn't work.
Opening Doors to Independence
Program Features
For such families to succeed (as a family) we believe it is
necessary to • Maintain behavioral health services;
• Have consequences for not following through with services
and or negative action which effect their children;
• Participate in parenting classes before admission
into housing program;
• Support from community mental health providers;
• Adult mentoring program for single mothers; and,
• Communication, Communication, Communication.
Opening Doors to Independence
Program Features
For families to remain
housed, our experience
indicates the following
skills are important for a
family to remain housed?
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Parenting skills
Housekeeping
Employment as a goal
Completing education
Communication and socialization
skills including dispute resolution
Understanding the consequences for
negative behaviors
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Understanding mental health diagnosis
Empowerment skills
Assertiveness
Financial literacy program (changing the
way they think about money)
Stress reduction
Activities in a safe environment for the
children and the importance of safety for
the family and others in the building,
Dealing with mental health crisis
Opening Doors to Independence
Program Features
For families that have succeeded it is our experience that
our staff • Remain very proactive - catching problems before they get out of hand;
• Discuss the importance of paying rent and utility bills on time;
• Make sure tenants are keeping mental health appointments, remaining
sober and clean, and monitoring the development of the children.
• Understanding that families have multiple problems and failure is all too
likely. At times we need to advocate for families keeping their housing and
providing the interventions that keep them housed such as payment plans
for missed rent, phone calls to PHA for missed inspections, referrals to
local agencies for food, clothing assistance, etc.
• Lastly being supportive, and listening.
Opening Doors to Independence
Success Stories
Opening Doors to Independence
Fresh Start Success Story: Janice
• 40-year-old mother of
three
• Toledo native with history
of depression and
substance abuse starting
with alcohol at age 13
• Ex-husband introduced
her to Percocet and
OxyContin “as a form of
control”
Opening Doors to Independence
Fresh Start Success Story: Janice
• Early April 2005: Divorced and kicked
out of her mother’s home, Janice lived
in a van with her three children for
several weeks
• Was picked up by police at a crack
house after driving a friend there to earn
money
• When officers asked who to call to keep
her kids during questioning, she
suggested Lucas County Children
Services
Opening Doors to Independence
Fresh Start Success Story: Janice
• “For the first time in my life I was totally
honest. I told Children Services I needed
help.”
• April 29, 2005: Gave up all drugs with
inpatient treatment; children in foster care
• June 2006: Moved from transitional
housing into NPI Fresh Start facility
• “The Fresh Start Program is into
accountability… once you get into recovery
you have to be an open book.”
• Now she lives with her three children at
NPI and plans to go to college to study
social work
Opening Doors to Independence
Success Story: Louvina
• History of drug/alcohol abuse, mental
illness, fighting and incarceration
• April 2002: Found herself wandering
the streets, crying and rudderless
• Wanted to stop using and regain
custody of her child
• Went into inpatient care for substance
abuse, which meant admitting to a
parole violation; back to prison for
three years
Opening Doors to Independence
Success Story: Louvina
• Continued her recovery in prison with
mental health treatment, life skills
training, business school and more
• 2005: Paroled six months early
• Regained custody of her daughter,
La’Vesha; had trouble acquiring
housing until she found the NPI
Homeless Families with Mental
Illness program
• Today Louvina works and attends
church; she wants to be a chemical
dependency counselor
Opening Doors to Independence
Homeless to Homeowner:
Nicole
• Late 2001: Nicole lost her job and
began to use drugs to cope with
her depression
• Spring 2002: Her sister worked
with Children Services to take
custody of Nicole’s sons, Martez
& Myron, when she saw Nicole
was using and being evicted
• Fall 2002: Nicole was homeless
and addicted to crack
Opening Doors to Independence
Homeless to Homeowner:
Nicole
• She received inpatient care for 30
days and then went into
transitional housing
• Rejected for housing until she
found the NPI Homeless
Families with Mental Illness
program in 2003
Opening Doors to Independence
Homeless to Homeowner:
Nicole
• After she obtained stable housing,
she earned visitation rights with
her boys and eventually full
custody
• Now she is purchasing her home
through a low income housing tax
credit program with help from
Lucas Metropolitan Housing
Authority and NPI
Opening Doors to Independence
What it took - $300,000 in
HUD SHP and NPI funds to
renovate 3 units of housing
for homeless families
Opening Doors to Independence
Even with
support services,
our first tenant
was evicted in
10 months.
Opening Doors to Independence
Most Significant Challenges
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Tenants victimized by the illegal drug business.
Female tenants and their children who are
victimized by predatory males.
Families with very poor daily living and
parenting skills that constantly place children at
risk for violence, drug abuse and homelessness.
Poverty and lack of economic opportunity.
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