Resources: Housing and Homelessness

Expanding Access to and Use of Behavioral Health Services for People Experiencing Homelessness

Shares strategies, considerations, and information for behavioral health and other healthcare practitioners working to expand access to mental health and/or substance use disorder (SUD) treatment for people experiencing homelessness. Highlights 4 case studies of organizations working to address mental health and SUD among populations experiencing homelessness, including a rural specific example located in Colorado.

Resource Type: Document / Report
Date: 01/2023
Sponsor: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
First Responder Deflection Mentoring Initiative

Offers an opportunity for first responder organizations operating deflection initiatives for people with substance use disorders (SUDs) to apply to become a mentor site to provide peer-to-peer mentoring to other first responder organizations interested in establishing or enhancing a deflection program. Promotes deflection as an innovative model to support individuals in the community with opioid, stimulant, and other SUDs, mental health and/or co-occurring disorders while avoiding involvement with the justice system.

Resource Type: Technical Assistance
Sponsor: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
Fletcher Group Rural Center of Excellence (RCOE)

Provides technical assistance to help establish and expand recovery housing services and evidence-based treatment and prevention programs in over 100 counties highly impacted by substance use disorder (SUD) in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho.

Resource Type: Technical Assistance
Sponsor: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP)
Health Care for Re-Entry Veterans (HCRV) Services and Resources

Helps veterans achieve success and avoid homelessness following release from incarceration in state or federal prison. Provides outreach and assessment services; referral services to connect veterans to clinical, mental health, and social services, such as job assistance; and short-term case management support.

Resource Type: Recovery Support
Sponsor: Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
HUD Exchange Rural Gateway

Serves as an information clearinghouse on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs, services, resources, tools, and training to support housing and economic development in rural and underserved areas, including tribal populations and veterans. Offers individual technical assistance and peer learning opportunities. Includes detailed case studies of successful programs and information on rural programs HUD previously funded.

Resource Type: Website
Sponsor: Office of Rural Housing and Economic Development
Inspire and Think Big: Recovery Communities' Role in Challenging Times, Part 4

Interview with Callan Howton, Director of the National Peer-Run Training and Technical Assistance Center for Addiction Recovery Peer Support. Highlights how this model of providing recovery housing can be used to advance recovery communities and help individuals maintain recovery from substance use during periods of change and disruption.

Resource Type: Video / Audio / Multimedia
Date: 08/2020
Sponsor: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Maintaining Fidelity to ACT: Current Issues and Innovations in Implementation

Offers information on the principles of the assertive community treatment (ACT) model, which provides time-unlimited, community-based services for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) who experience or are at risk for concurrent substance use, frequent hospitalization, homelessness, involvement with the criminal legal system, and psychiatric crises. Discusses current issues and challenges as well as strategies for successfully implementing ACT in communities. Describes examples of ACT implementation for specific underserved populations, including individuals with criminal justice involvement, people in rural areas, youth, older adults, and immigrants.

Resource Type: Document / Report
Date: 09/2023
Sponsor: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
National Resource Directory

Provides a directory of national, state, and local programs and services to support recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration for military service members, veterans, their families, and caregivers. Helps connect individuals to a range of services and resources, including substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery support.

Resource Type: Treatment Provision
Sponsors: U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Opioid-Overdose Reduction Continuum of Care Approach: A Guide for Policymakers for Implementing Evidence-Based Strategies That Address Opioid Overdose

Provides guidance to policymakers, communities, and key stakeholders to develop and implement system- and practice-level changes to reduce opioid overdose deaths. Presents results from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative's HEALing Communities Study. Outlines priority populations and 19 evidence-based interventions to prevent and reduce opioid related overdose deaths. Offers resources on various topics related opioid overdose and highlights model programs, including those serving rural areas.

Resource Type: Document / Report
Date: 2023
Sponsors: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH)

Offers a range of essential behavioral health and housing services and supports through over 500 local PATH provider organizations working to reduce or eliminate homelessness for individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) and/or co-occurring substance use disorders (COD) who are currently experiencing homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless. Focuses on providing services that are not well supported by mainstream mental health programs and aims to serve areas with the greatest need, including underserved populations and communities.

Resource Type: Treatment Provision
Sponsor: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Rural SUD Info Center

Provides a clearinghouse of information, best practices, tools, events, and research to support comprehensive approaches to prevention, treatment, recovery, and policy to address substance use disorder (SUD) in rural communities nationwide.

Resource Type: Website
Sponsor: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP)
SAMHSA Crisis Services: Meeting Needs, Saving Lives

Shares national guidelines for behavioral health crisis care best practice toolkit from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and a 2020 technical assistance paper series focused on crisis services. Offers information to support mental health authorities, agency administrators, service providers, and other state and local leaders in the design, development, implementation, and quality improvement of behavioral health crisis systems. Details components of crisis services and best practices, along with tools for implementing and evaluating care that aligns with national guidelines. Addresses key issues related to crisis services, including homelessness, technology advances, substance use, legal issues, financing crisis care, diverse populations, children and adolescents, rural and frontier areas, and the role of law enforcement.

Resource Type: Document / Report
Date: 08/2020
Sponsor: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
SAMHSA Homelessness Programs and Resources

Offers a collection of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) programs and resources designed to prevent and end homelessness among men, women, youth, and families with mental illness or substance use disorder (SUD). Includes grant programs and services as well as publications, videos, and webinars on behavioral health treatment, employment assistance, housing/shelter programs, case management, trauma, as well as links to help individuals find immediate help and treatment.

Resource Type: Website
Sponsor: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR)

Provides training and technical assistance to help states and communities establish local programs to support Supplemental Security Income/Social Security Disability Insurance (SSI/SSDI) outreach, access, and recovery efforts, also known as SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) model implementation. Seeks to increase access to SSI/SSDI benefits for eligible children and adults who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. Offers resources and training to enhance the ability of case managers to provide comprehensive SSI/SSDI application assistance to help individuals obtain their SSI/SSDI benefits, which can serve as an important resource to sustain individuals in treatment and recovery and secure permanent housing.

Resource Type: Training
Sponsor: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Veterans Justice Outreach Program (VJO)

Seeks to identify justice-involved veterans and contact them through outreach, in order to facilitate access to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services through Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) specialists at the earliest possible point. Builds and maintains partnerships between the VA and key elements of the criminal justice system.

Resource Type: Treatment Provision
Sponsor: Veterans Health Administration (VHA)