The Mental Health Commission of Canada engaged and followed more than 2,000 participants for two years and implemented a five-city supportive housing program using a Housing First (HF) approach using randomized control groups. HF is a type of supportive housing. This is the world's largest trial of supportive housing (using the HF model). The outcomes are impressive: investing in supportive housing for those with high needs saves money and leads to better longitudinal housing outcomes. For the highest needs users, the top 10% of those served, every $10 invested saves more than $21 in public costs. The study also found that HF rapidly ends homelessness, and that HF can be effectively implemented in cities of different sizes and different ethnoracial and cultural compositions.
Research category: Cost Savings