Permanent Supportive Housing

Policy Advisory: Clarification of the 12-Month Rule

HRSA has recently clarified the definition of homelessness in response to language included in the Senate Appropriations Committee Report and confirmed in the Conference Committee Report on the FY2012 Appropriations Act. Read this Policy Advisory from John Lozier, executive director of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council.

NHCHC Publications

• Medicaid’s Home and Community-Based Services Program: An Orientation for Homeless Health Care Providers, May 2012
• Policy and Practice Brief: Clinical Challenges in Permanent Supportive Housing, 2011. This brief highlights issues faced by clinicians providing direct services in the field and makes policy and practice recommendations to help strengthen this growing model of care. The brief is also directed at administrators and policymakers so they may better understand these challenges and work to reduce common barriers.
• Defining and Funding the Support in Permanent Supportive Housing: Recommendations from Health Centers Serving Homeless People, 2008. Prepared by the National HCH Council for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, this report describes the involvement of health center programs in permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless people with disabling conditions; specifies PSH services and service models most likely to promote long-term stability, recovery, and improved health; and proposes more adequate and reliable funding mechanisms to sustain these services. To read the full report, click here.

Other Resources

• New Housing Resources to Support Olmstead Implementation, June 18, 2012. This informational bulletin released by the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) describes HUD actions, policies, and resources that are available to assist states in developing strategies to better integrate services and housing.
• Medicaid-Financed Services in Supportive Housing for High-Need Homeless Beneficiaries: The Business Case, June 2012. Developed by the Center for Health Care Strategies, this brief outlines the rationale for states to consider designing Medicaid-financed, supportive housing-based care management services to improve care for at-risk beneficiaries while lowering costs associated with avoidable hospitalizations and other crisis services.
• Medicaid Financing for Services in Supportive Housing for Chronically Homeless People: Current Practices and Opportunities, February 24, 2012. U.S Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
• Integrating FQHC Health Care Services with Permanent Supportive Housing in Los Angeles, March 2011. Developed by the United Homeless Health Care Partners and the Corporation for Supportive Housing, this publication explores funding, operations, and partnership matters between permanent supportive housing developers and health centers in Los Angeles County.
• Medicaid and Permanent Supportive Housing for Chronically Homeless Individuals: Literature Synthesis and Environmental Scan, January 6, 2011. U.S Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
• USICH—HHS/CMCS Listening Session with Supportive Housing Providers using Integrated Care Models, October 21, 2010
• Cost Savings with Permanent Supportive Housing, March 2010. This interactive tool was developed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
• Permanent Supportive Housing Toolkit, 2010. Developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), this toolkit guides communities in developing a supportive housing program using a scattered site model.
• Toolkit for Developing and Operating Supportive Housing. Compiled by the Corporation for Supportive Housing, this toolkit covers everything from financing supportive housing to the provision of supportive services.

Policy Positions

• Comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on State Plan Home and Community-Based Services, July 2012
• Housing and Homelessness, 2012. This policy statement of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council recommends permanent supportive housing (PSH) to provide our most vulnerable neighbors with secure housing and sufficient supportive services.

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