The Metro Homelessness Commission reports 56 out of the 60 Housing First participants have been permanently housed, giving the program a 92 percent retention rate. That’s a little higher than most Housing First programs around the country that claim roughly 85-90 percent of participants remain off the streets.
However, it’s important to note that not all Housing First participants are monitored indefinitely. In Nashville’s Housing First program, 37 out of the 60 participants have been discharged, meaning their Housing First social worker believed they were stable enough to live without their constant support.
Once released from the program, Housing First no longer keeps track of whether or not participants stay in housing.
Some have been discharged in 6 months, others after a year or two. There are a handful of participants considered so unstable that they will remain in their Housing First apartment, possibly, until their death.
Typically, one year in housing is the federal government’s benchmark for success. In Quincy, Massachusetts, south of Boston, the majority of Housing First participants stay in the program for two to three years before being discharged.
New York City’s program called, Pathways to Housing, is the original Housing First model created in 1992. A study published in Psychiatric Services in 2000, co-authored by the founder of Pathways to Housing, followed 242 participants over the course of five years. It showed that 88 percent of those in the program remained housed. The study compared the Pathways to Housing group to a more traditional model, where rehab and transitional housing were part of the process. In that group, made up of 1600 individuals, 47 percent remained housed over five years.
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