Mental Health: It’s Not Just A Crazy Notion
I was emailed information about a Mental Health Conference that is going on today in Washington, DC, and supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
As we all know, mental health dramatically affects the state of homelessness in our country. Without responsible and proactive responses to mental health, we will continue to see increasing numbers of people becoming homeless.
Especially when 1 in 4 Americans (both housed and un-housed) encounter some form of mental illness in the course of a year. This is an incredible fact.
And our government institutions are unable to respond effectively: “…30 percent of SSI and SSDI recipients, 18 percent of the persons in prison, 25 percent of juvenile offenders, 25 percent of the homeless, and 10 percent of youth in schools have serious mental health conditions, public agencies in these sectors are not designed, prepared, or equipped to deal with their mental health treatment and service needs.”
Here is a paper being presented at the conference. The title is very fitting:
Putting Housing First, Making Housing Last. The last part of this title is important. It’s not just about “housing first” (getting people into housing), it is also about “making housing last” (making sure people stay in their house.)
As we all know, mental health dramatically affects the state of homelessness in our country. Without responsible and proactive responses to mental health, we will continue to see increasing numbers of people becoming homeless.
Especially when 1 in 4 Americans (both housed and un-housed) encounter some form of mental illness in the course of a year. This is an incredible fact.
And our government institutions are unable to respond effectively: “…30 percent of SSI and SSDI recipients, 18 percent of the persons in prison, 25 percent of juvenile offenders, 25 percent of the homeless, and 10 percent of youth in schools have serious mental health conditions, public agencies in these sectors are not designed, prepared, or equipped to deal with their mental health treatment and service needs.”
Here is a paper being presented at the conference. The title is very fitting:
Putting Housing First, Making Housing Last. The last part of this title is important. It’s not just about “housing first” (getting people into housing), it is also about “making housing last” (making sure people stay in their house.)
posted by LA's Homeless Blog at
8:20 AM
2 Comments:
All those agencies label people mental if the person disagrees with them; that's how easy it is to get labeled. Real Housing, Real Training, Real Jobs! No more of your sick 12 step religion and mats on the floor for 5 times the cost of real housing.
I had a friend who was bi-polar. She always took her medication, but it didn't help her at all.
Also, there is a homeless woman a few miles from where I live. She's been homeless about five years. She spends all of her time watching the traffic go by. A bus driver told me that some people prefer being homeless.
I read a blog by a homeless man. He had an apartment about a year ago, but went back to being homeless. He posted that he was anxious being inside, didn't like being isolated and wanted to be around people he knew. If he got another apartment,
would he go back to being homeless? I don't understand why someone wouldn't want the privacy and protection of a home.
I talked to the same bus driver about another woman who isn't homeless, but spends her days standing outside with all of her belongings.
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