Data Backs Up Supportive 'Housing First' Model in Spite of Federal Attacks
King County’s Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) recently released data showing the success of their Health Through Housing’s permanent supportive housing (PSH) program in keeping people housed and stable. DCHS also analyzed the overall impact of the region’s permanent supportive housing interventions on incarceration rates, finding that jail bookings of participants in these programs dropped almost 27% in their first year and more than 37% by their third year.
At the same time, Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) just celebrated the opening of Birch Grove, their 20th permanent supportive housing location situated in Lake City. Birch Grove features 120 studio units, including 18 units that are ADA-compliant, along with wrap-around services that include behavioral health support and substance use disorder treatment. Each resident will have an on-site staff member assigned to them to help them access services.
Success of the region’s permanent supportive housing ecosystem, be it Health Through Housing or DESC’s buildings, provides counter evidence to the continued insistence from the Trump administration that a “Housing First” approach to homelessness is ineffective.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson spoke strongly in support of “housing first” at Birch Grove’s opening celebration on Tuesday.
https://www.theurbanist.org/data-backs-up-supportive-housing-first-model-in-spite-of-federal-attacks/?ref=daily-articles-newsletter