In Massachusetts, the Home & Healthy for Good program reported some significant outcomes that were favorable especially in the area of cost savings.[SUP]
[12][/SUP]
The Denver Housing First Collaborative, operated by the
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless,[SUP]
[13][/SUP] provides housing through a Housing First approach to more than 200 chronically homeless individuals. A 2006 cost study documented a significant reduction in the use and cost of emergency services by program participants as well as increased health status.[SUP]
[14][/SUP] Emergency room visits and costs were reduced by an average of 34.3 percent. Hospital inpatient costs were reduced by 66 percent. Detox visits were reduced by 82 percent. Incarceration days and costs were reduced by 76 percent. 77 percent of those entering the program continued to be housed in the program after two years.
Researchers in
Seattle, Washington, partnering with the
Downtown Emergency Service Center, found that providing housing and support services for homeless alcoholics costs taxpayers less than leaving them on the street, where taxpayer money goes towards police and emergency health care.[SUP]
[2][/SUP][SUP]
[15][/SUP][SUP]
[16][/SUP] Results of the study funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation[SUP]
[17][/SUP] appeared in the
Journal of the American Medical Association April, 2009.[SUP]
[2][/SUP] This first US controlled assessment of the effectiveness of Housing First specifically targeting chronically homeless alcoholics showed that the program saved taxpayers more than $4 million over the first year of operation. During the first six months, even after considering the cost of administering the housing, 95 residents in a Housing First program in downtown Seattle, the study reported an average cost-savings of 53 percent—nearly US $2,500 per month per person in health and social services, compared to the per month costs of a wait-list control group of 39 homeless people. Further, stable housing also results in reduced drinking among homeless alcoholics.
In Utah, there has been "a 72 percent decrease overall since enacting the plan in 2005" according to the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development.[SUP]
[18][/SUP]
In August 2007, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that the number of chronically homeless individuals living on the streets or in shelters dropped by an unprecedented 30 percent, from 175,914 people in 2005 to 123,833 in 2007. This was credited in part to the "housing first" approach; Congress in 1999 directed that HUD spend 30% of its funding on the method.[SUP]
[19][/SUP]
In September 2010, it was reported that the Housing First Initiative had significantly reduced the chronic homeless single person population in
Boston, Massachusetts, although homeless families were still increasing in number. Some shelters were reducing the number of beds due to lowered numbers of homeless, and some emergency shelter facilities were closing, especially the emergency Boston Night Center.[SUP]
[20][/SUP] By 2015, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh had announced a 3-year plan to end chronic homelessness, focusing on coordinating efforts among public agencies and nonprofit organizations providing services to homeless men and women.[SUP]
[21][/SUP][SUP]
[22][/SUP]
In 2013, the estimated national public cost of chronic homelessness was between $3.7 and $4.7 billion according to the
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). Through Housing First programs, chronically homeless individuals are using fewer hospital resources, spending less time in costly incarceration and requiring fewer emergency room visits. Studies in New York City and in Utah have shown that every homeless person housed in programs such as Housing First saves taxpayers $10,000 and $8,000 a year, respectively. A research study at Univeristy of Northern Carolina also reported that a housing project for the chronically homeless called Moore Place had saved the county $2.4 million.