Yesterday the national final report for the cross-site At Home/Chez Soi project was released. The project’s $110M budget was funded by Health Canada. The At Home/Chez Soi project utilized the Housing First model, which draws on the ‘Pathways to Housing program’ from New York City.
Tracking a group of people who received the Housing First intervention, and a group of people who didn’t, allowed for what I believe to be the largest scale tracking of a homelessness intervention in Canada. The results showed that in all of the scenarios, people who had been experiencing homelessness were more likely to remain sheltered and less likely to access emergency healthcare services. Overall, throughout the course of this trial, it has shown that Housing First is cost efficient, effective and a humane solution to homelessness in Canada. This demonstration is key in moving forward to end homelessness with evidence-based practice. Nick Falvo previously highlighted some of the other significant points about Housing First, including that it will provide a base of raw data that will be available for years to come. The information is bitter sweet, however, in that the federal budget for homelessness intervention is at 35% of the level it was in 1999.
The seven main messages and key findings identified in the report are as follows:
1) Housing First works in different sized cities with different ethnoracial and cultural compositions.
2) Housing First rapidly ends homelessness.
3) Housing First is a sound investment.
4) Housing First is not housing only.
5) Having a place to live with supports can lead to positive outcomes outside of those provided in the services.
6) Housing First can change lives in many different ways.
7) Correctly designing Housing First programs is important to getting the best outcomes.
Images taken from the National At Home/Chez Soi Final Report produced by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.