new york times article

A good article abut a Federal Court decision to close all large homes with for mentally ill people who have been warehoused.  Great for advocates all over working for better conditions for mentally ill, homeless, and poor people in general.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/nyregion/09mental.html

Overview

As in most cities throughout the country, a crisis in housing and homelessness has existed since the Great Depression of the 1930's. The nature of the crisis changes at the national and local level based on economic factors which reflect governmental policies at a given time. Under Democratic admistrations, more money tended to be available, administered by HUD. Local agencies would have to work with cities and counties to develop workable plans for how to utilize the money to provide the best continuum of care as possible, meaning affordable housing and the right kind of support for people with special needs.

New Shelter has less beds than old shelter

Options getting better? Not in Ann Arbor. All the kinds of housing options actually provide less beds because of a lack of money. "Housing first" is not solving the problem of a lack of beds, and, in addition, lack of funds for supportive services causes some people to be unable to live well enough in the homes which had been designed for alcoholics, drug addicts and mentally ill people.

More funds are going to be necessary. Meanwhile, the Shelter Association can coordinate placing people in the best way possible while advocating with the state and federal governments for more money.

A tent city now exists in Ann Arbor. It is becoming much more well organized,seeking to become a non-profit organization run by the homeless themselves. In part, it's an attempt by the homeless to be able to live the life-style of their choice without having to abide by "shelter rules."

David Duboff

money for clubhouses for supportive housing

In the 1970's to the mid 90's there was more money from the federal government for housing attached to clubhouses, including here in Ann Arbor. With State funds, Community Support and Treatment Services (CSTS) for the mentally ill was able to play an active role in working with all the agencies in Washtenaw County to develop more coordinated affordable housing and services. Yet, clearly more needs to be done. Over time the CSTS, which use to be Community Mental Health Center, the newest fresh start clubhouses became merged with CSTS.

Supportive housing for the mentally ill

Proposed cuts in mental budgets lead to programs like psycho-social clubhouses having more difficulty providing affordable housing with wrap-around services to their members.