Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is the largest national research institute devoted to homelessness in Canada. The COH is the curator of the Homeless Hub.
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The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is the largest national research institute devoted to homelessness in Canada. The COH is the curator of the Homeless Hub.
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Author(s): Sam Tsemberis
Publication Date: 1999
This paper describes essential elements of the CPSH Model of homelessness prevention in use at Pathways to Housing, Inc., in New York City. This intervention prevents homelessness by engaging and housing homeless substance abusers with psychiatric disabilities whom other programs rejected as "treatment resistant" or "not housing ready."
Author(s): Sam Tsemberis, Leyla Gulcer, Maria Nakae
Publication Date: 2004
Objectives. We examined the longitudinal effects of a Housing First program for homeless, mentally ill individuals’ on those individuals’ consumer choice, housing stability, substance use, treatment utilization, and psychiatric symptoms.
Methods. Two hundred twenty-five participants were randomly assigned to receive housing contingent on treatment and sobriety (control) or to receive immediate housing without treatment prerequisites (experimental...
Author(s): Sam Tsemberis, Ronda Eisenberg
Publication Date: 2000
Objective: This study examined the effectiveness of the Pathways to Housing supported housing program over a five-year period. Unlike most housing programs that offer services in a linear, step-by-step continuum, the Pathways program in New York City provides immediate access to independent scatter-site apartments for individuals with psychiatric disabilities who are homeless and living on the street. Support services are provided by a team that...
Author(s): Sam Tsemberis, E. Sally Rogers, Eleni Rodis, Patricia Dushuttle, Vicki Skryha
Publication Date: 2003
Provision of residential services to people with mental illness has assumed increasing importance since deinstitutionalization and as community based services have increased. This large-scale multisite study of housing programs specifically for persons with mental illness examines one of the factors that lead to successful residential tenure for persons with serious mental illness. To date, the Lehman Quality of Life Scale has been used primarily...
Author(s): David Shern, Sam Tsemberis, William A. Anthony, Anne Lovell, Linda Richmond, Chip Felton, James T. Winarski, Mikal Cohen
Publication Date: 2000
Objectives. This study tested a psychiatric rehabilitation approach for organizing and delivering services to street dwelling persons with severe mental illness. Methods. Street-dwelling persons with severe mental illness were randomly assigned to the experimental program (called Choices) or to standard treatment in New York City. We assessed study participants at baseline and at 6-month intervals over 24 months, using measures of service use,...
Author(s): Sam Tsemberis
Publication Date: 1999
This article describes a supported housing program that provides immediate access to permanent independent housing to individuals who are homeless and have psychiatric disabilities. Following housing placement, Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams provide treatment, support, and other needed services. The residential stability of tenants in this supported housing program was compared to that of tenants in a linear residential treatment progr...
Author(s): Sam Tsemberis, Cherie Elfenbein
Publication Date: 1999
In continuing efforts to address the public health concerns and reduce suffering of individuals who are homeless and mentally ill. New York City provides an array of services constituting a continuum of care that begins with outreach teams on the streets and ends with permanent supportive housing. In spite of the existence of these services, thousands of individuals with psychiatric disabilities are still on the streets. This chapter examines the...
Author(s): Lara Carson Weinstein, Marianna D. LaNoue, James D. Plumb, Hannah King, Brianna Stein, Sam Tsemberis
Publication Date: 2013
People with histories of homelessness and serious mental illness experience profound health disparities. Housing First is an evidenced-based practice that is working to end homelessness for these individuals through a combination of permanent housing and community-based supports (Authors).
Author(s): Geoffrey Nelson, Eric Macnaughton, Rachel Caplan, Tim Macleod, Greg Townley, Myra Piat, Ph.D., Ana Stefancic, Sam Tsemberis, Paula Goering
Organization: Mental Health Commission of Canada
Publication Date: 2013
This report presents the overall findings from an implementation and fidelity evaluation of the At Home/Chez Soi initiative, a pan-Canadian Housing First demonstration project presently being implemented in Moncton, Montréal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. The present study examined the second phase of implementation, using a mixed methods strategy. The quantitative data were gathered by an external Quality Assurance team, which produced 10 fi...
Author(s): Geoffrey Nelson, Jennifer Rae, Greg Townley, Paula Goering, Eric Macnaughton, Myra Piat, Ph.D., Nathalie Egalité, Ana Stefancic, Sam Tsemberis
Organization: Mental Health Commission of Canada
Publication Date: 2012
This report presents the overall findings from an implementation and fidelity evaluation of the At Home/Chez Soi initiative, a pan-Canadian Housing First demonstration project presently being implemented in Moncton, Montréal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. The present study examined the first phase of implementation, using a mixed methods strategy. In particular, the study sought to understand the extent to which the interventions met fidelity...
Author(s): Philip T. Yanos, Ana Stefanic, Sam Tsemberis
Publication Date: 2011
This study examined individual and neighborhood predictors of the psychological community integration of people with psychiatric disabilities and nondisabled community members. One hundred twenty-three adults (60 psychiatrically disabled, 63 general community residents), completed measures of sense of community, life satisfaction, psychiatric symptoms, and perceptions of neighborhood. Mental health consumers living in independent scatter-site apa...
Author(s): Philip T. Yanos, Barbara J. Felton, Sam Tsemberis, Victoria A. Frye
Publication Date: 2007
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Author(s): Sam Tsemberis, Douglas Kent, Christy Repress
Publication Date: 2012
Pathways Housing First provides access to housing, support, and treatment services to clients having the most complex needs—persons who have been homeless for at least 5 years and have both a psychiatric disability and substance dependency. (Authors)
Pathways Housing First provides access to housing, support, and treatment services to clients having the most complex needs—persons who have been homeless for at least 5 years and have both a psychia...
Author(s): Benjamin F. Henwood, Carson Lara Weinstein, Sam Tsemberis
Publication Date: 2011
Individuals with a serious mental illness, especially those who have experienced homelessness, have high rates of medical comorbidities and early mortality. Our “housing first” program combines supported housing, assertive community treatment (ACT), and primary care in order to address these complex service needs. The program began in October 2008 and serves 125 individuals who have met the federal definition of chronic homelessness and have an...
Author(s): Sam Tsemberis
Organization: Housing First; Evidence Based Practice; Pathways to Housing Program
Publication Date: 2010
Research proves that the Housing First approach is more effective than traditional models at dramatically reducing homelessness among those with mental health and substance use disorders.
This step-by-step manual provides a solid foundation for introducing the evidence-based Housing First approach--provide housing first, followed by supportive treatment services--into new locations, and evolving existing programs into those based on the ideals of...
Author(s): M. Salyers, Sam Tsemberis
Publication Date: 2007
The authors examine whether Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), a widely implemented and rigorously studied practice, can successfully incorporate a recovery oriented approach while continuing to retain program fidelity. The authors briefly review the effectiveness of ACT as an evidence-based practice, with a focus on adaptations to changing populations and contexts. The authors explore philosophical similarities and differences between ACT and...
Author(s): Sean N. Fischer, Marybeth Shinn, Patrick Shrout, Sam Tsemberis
Publication Date: 2009
This study examined whether street homelessness, sheltered homelessness, and the severity of psychological symptoms predicted non-violent and violent crime among 207 mentally ill participants who were homeless at baseline. Participants were interviewed at 9 time points over 4 years. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to examine whether changes in homelessness status and symptom severity predicted changes in criminal activity over time. R...
Author(s): Susan Barrow, Lorraine McMullin, Julia Tripp, Sam Tsemberis
Organization: Homelessness Resource Center (HRC)
Publication Date: 2009
Many programs are beginning to recognize the value of consumer integration in research, policy and practice. However, this is still a relatively new concept. What does consumer integration mean? HRC’s Suzanne Zerger offers a summary of a paper on consumer integration that was presented during the 2007 National Research Symposium on Homelessness.
A wave of consumer-driven initiatives over the last decade has shattered a long tradition of treating...
Author(s): Deborah Padgett, Leyla Gulcer, Sam Tsemberis
Publication Date: 2006
This study shows that adults with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse can remain stably housed without increasing their substance use. It draws on data from a longitudinal experiment contrasting Housing First and treatment first programs.
The literature on homeless adults with severe mental illness is generally silent on a critical issue surrounding service delivery—the contrast between housing first and treatment first program philos...
Author(s): Sam Tsemberis, Gregory J. McHugo, Valerie Williams, Patricia Hanrahan, Ana Stefancic
Publication Date: 2007
Reliable and valid longitudinal residential histories are needed to assess interventions to reduce homelessness and increase community tenure. This study examined the test-retest reliability, sensitivity to change, and concurrent validity of the Residential Time-Line Follow-Back (TLFB) Inventory, a method used to record residential histories in the Collaborative Program to Prevent Homelessness (n = 1,381). The Residential TLFB Inventory yielded t...