Evaluation Conducted by CFS Reveals HHOPE Team Helps Chronically Homeless Persons with Serious Mental Illness

An evaluation recently completed by CFS’s Robert Paulson, Ph.D. reveals that a pilot program supporting the chronically homeless in Broward County has saved the county over a half million dollars and should continue to be sustained. The HHOPE (Housing and Health Options Provide Empowerment) Chronic Homeless Initiative Program, which provides 24/7 care to chronically homeless persons with serious mental illness, began enrolling participants in April of 2004. As of May 2006, 86% of the 43 admitted to the HHOPE Program have been living in permanent supported housing for over one year, and 81% are now self-supporting. It was calculated that the HHOPE Program cost per day is the cheapest of all services utilized by the participants, and provides a far better quality of life. The total cost avoidance is close to six hundred thousand dollars ($592,082) that would have been spent on services (hospitilization, jail time and shelter) to individuals without the HHOPE Program.

The agencies making up the HHOPE Team are: Broward Addiction Recovery Center; Broward Partnership for the Homeless, Inc.; Henderson Mental Health Center; North Broward Hospital District; Broward County Elderly Veterans Services; and, the VA. The results of this program have been evaluated extensively at both the federal and local levels in the search for promising practices and lessons learned.

“ Given the successful implementation of the program, the successful housing of over 40 formerly chronically homeless persons, and the cost savings to the rest of the system, it is important to sustain this program,” said Robert Paulson. The September 2006 evaluation update can be downloaded in pdf form. For more information on the evaluation of HHOPE, contact Robert Paulson at 813-974-3117, or for information on the HHOPE Program, contact Steve Werthman at 954-357-6101.