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40 J. Soc. & Soc. Welfare 51 (2013)
Are Housing First Programs Effective: A Research Note

handle is hein.journals/jrlsasw40 and id is 51 raw text is: Are Housing First Programs Effective? A Research Note DANIELLE GROTON Florida State University College of Social Work This paper briefly reviews studies comparing the effectiveness of various Housing First programs to Continuum of Care pro- grams for outcomes related to housing retention, substance use, and mental health. A literature search was completed entering the search term Housing First in electronic databases (PsycINFO, JSTOR, and Web of Science) to find potential studies. Of the 67 items produced by the literature search, after screening for outcome studies of Housing First programs that evaluate housing retention, substance use, and/or mental health in comparison to other pro- grams or treatment as usual, 5 final studies were selected for in- clusion in the review. Of the five studies selected, all had recruited samples of either chronically homeless individuals or homeless in- dividuals with a mental health diagnosis, and all reported results favored Housing First programs over Continuum of Care programs for housing retention. Substance use and mental health outcomes generally stayed constant regardless of program type. While Hous- ing First does appear to show strong promise, the methodological flaws in the studies revewied, including strong research affiliation with the Housing First agencies being evaluated, calls for more rigorous studies to be completed by more objective investigators. Key words: homelessness, Housing First, Continuum of Care, chronic homelessness In recent years, homelessness has become an important national issue in light of the economic recession. In 2007, just under 700,000 people were estimated to be homeless in a single day (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2007), with thousands also suffering from disabling Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, March 2013, Volume XL, Number 1 51

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