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Dear ,
I am excited to share with you two new studies supported by Hearth Connection. Both studies look at formerly homeless participants who receive supportive services in permanent supportive housing and showed promising results. These evaluations bolster our conviction that efforts to end long-term homelessness require investments in targeted services and research-informed best practices.
Now in its twelfth year, Hearth Connection continues its focus on being a data-driven, research-informed service collaborative that shows accountable results in ending homelessness and improving the well-being of our participants. We've recently partnered with the University of Minnesota on a premier, first-look study of how homeless children's progress in school or experiences with maltreatment are impacted by stable, supportive housing.
Additionally, we partnered with Guild Incorporated and Regions Hospital to evaluate outcomes for homeless adults who were frequent users of emergency rooms and inpatient treatment. The Hospital to Home pilot engaged a small group of individuals who were identified by Regions Hospital for their disproportionate use of hospital resources, and offered them access to rental assistance and supportive services through Guild Incorporated. The current report looks at outcomes achieved after one year of enrollment in supportive housing, and it shows promising results in decreasing the frequency with which participants use costly, emergency room care.
In addition to regular reporting and program evaluation, this research gives us additional insight into the broader impacts of supportive housing on homeless populations and the public systems they encounter. These remarkable outcomes have important implications for local plans to end homelessness and public policies supporting homeless services.
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U of M Study Reveals Supportive Housing Benefits for Children
Last year, a number of stories and reports came out nationally that noted the high level of homelessness among children. Minnesota was no exception to this trend, with reports that local family shelters were full and turning away parents with children. We all know about the importance of supporting children during development and adolescence, so the question arises: how can we help children achieve success after experiencing homelessness?
Conducted by the University of Minnesota's Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare and supported by data from Hearth Connection, a new study took a rare look into the well-being and educational results of children in supportive housing. The study concluded that over time, homeless children with access to permanent housing and supportive services have promising results in safety and school stability.
The University's study found that children receiving supportive housing services experienced the following general trends:
- Fewer school transfers
- Higher attendance rates
- Decreased involvement in maltreatment reports
- Decreased out-of-home placements
We believe this study is a first-of-its-kind in reviewing longitudinal outcomes measures for homeless children who receive permanent supportive housing. All children receiving supportive housing in the study were enrolled in Hearth Connection's Northeastern, Metropolitan, or Southern regional long-term homeless projects and received supportive services through local service partners.
Previous research indicates that students who are homeless typically encounter more challenges with school and higher involvement in child protection. The effects of homelessness on children are far-reaching: higher rates of trauma, psychological harm, incidences of abuse, school truancy, and likelihood of experiencing homelessness as an adult. In addition to preventing homelessness, we can take measures to mitigate its effect on children by providing housing and targeted, supportive services for families facing complex barriers to housing and stability.
The University of Minnesota's study calls for further research and investment in supportive housing approaches for children and families experiencing homelessness. To learn more about the study, please check out the child welfare brief, education brief, and full report at www.hearthconnection.org/results.
Finally, MinnPost ran a story today about the child study entitled Helping Minnesota's homeless kids: Studying services that work.
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Hospital to Home Program Improves Health Care Utilization
Housing impacts health recovery.
Long-term homelessness creates a barrage of challenges to maintaining one's physical and emotional well-being. With nowhere else to go, people with serious health conditions and mental illness who are homeless often end up in emergency rooms or staying too long for inpatient care. "Hospital to Home" initiatives have sprung up in several places throughout the country as a better alternative to serving the health and housing needs of frequent users of emergency medical services.
The Hospital to Home program is the result of a partnership with Guild Incorporated, Regions Hospital, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), and Hearth Connection. It offers participants access to community-based supportive housing and intensive case management services. In its first year, the Hospital to Home project in the Metro region has produced striking results in participants' stability and health care utilization.
The one-year evaluation of the Hospital to Home initiative found that participants:
- Drastically reduced their use of emergency rooms (decreased 44% in the first three months of enrollment)
- Were admitted less frequently for inpatient hospital stays and had shorter stays
- Decreased use of clinics (number of visits almost cut in half)
- Decreased pharmacy claims (claims reduced by 2/3 for the first three months of enrollment)
Participants also saw improvements in housing and stability:
- All participants were housed within three months and were still in housing at the time of the report
- The number of pharmacies accessed by participants decreased
- The number of clinics visited by participants decreased
- Participants had higher ratings in self-sufficiency
These results reinforce the benefit and need for continued coordination among housing, social services, and health care. To learn more about the study, please check out the outcome summary and full outcome report.
This special project with Guild Incorporated and Regions Hospital was the first of Hearth Connection's Hospital to Home initiatives. In 2010, Hearth Connection joined with the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) and the COHR service collaborative to implement a similar program at HCMC.
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Hearth Connection remains committed to conducting research and rigorous evaluation of our services. We hope that you will share the findings of these studies with your colleagues and friends. Contrary to common misperceptions, we know a lot about how to end homelessness and we look forward to continuing our work to support Minnesota's efforts to end this social crisis. Certainly, children and individuals experiencing homelessness are relying on our efforts to expand opportunities and discover solutions.
Please, feel free to let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Richard Hooks Wayman
Executive Director of Hearth Connection
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