In late October, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the Commonwealth’s premier Housing First initiative, Home & Healthy for Good, more than 70 case managers, supervisors, executive directors, property managers, and public administrators gathered for a statewide permanent supportive housing meeting convened by MHSA. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an update on the data that has been collected in Home & Healthy for Good over the last five years, as well as to offer information regarding Recovery-Based Housing, Motivational Interviewing and Income Maximization, and to give providers from across the Commonwealth a forum to discuss common challenges and best practices.
Attendees listen to a presentation by Cheryl Kennedy-Perez from the Department of Public Health/Bureau of Substance Abuse Services.
The day opened with a welcome from MHSA President and Executive Director Joe Finn, who thanked attendees for their commitment to ending homelessness and shared his vision for a new response to homelessness – one that relies less on emergency shelter and more on low-threshold, permanent supportive housing.
Finn’s opening was followed up by MHSA’s Housing First Coordinator Tom Brigham, who presented detailed data on the outcomes of Home & Healthy for Good – including the fact that in five years, 8,142 tenant interviews have been collected, and that MHSA’s HHG cost-benefit analyses result in more than $9,600 in cost savings per tenant annually. There has also been a significant increase in the Quality of Life for the HHG tenants and a dramatic reduction in their need to access emergency systems of care.
Cheryl Kennedy-Perez of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Abuse Services then presented on tenets of and lessons learned from recovery-based permanent supportive housing and the DPH’s ongoing commitment to program development and improvement. Kennedy-Perez was followed by Randy Dupell and Doug Klier of the Henry Lee Willis Center in Worcester, who gave an inspiring, tag-team presentation about Motivational Interviewing and the Social Model of Change. According to motivationalinterviewing.org, Motivational Interviewing is a counseling style that “focuses on exploring and resolving ambivalence and centers on motivational processes within the individual that facilitate change.”
After small group discussions at lunch, attendees listened to Heidi Gold of South Middlesex Opportunity Council explain how to maximize the income of permanent supportive housing tenants through an integrated model of benefits and employment. The day closed with a large group discussion exploring observations, challenges and group problem solving.
Attendee feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with the majority of respondents to a post-meeting survey indicating that the experience was valuable and that they are looking forward to future meetings. MHSA was also able to use the survey to gauge the types of topics that would be useful for future meetings. MHSA is grateful to our attendees and presenters for making the day such a productive and invigorating one, and we look forward to continuing these partnerships throughout the state.
