Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:286-289
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
An evaluation of a mental health program for homeless men
CL Caton, RJ Wyatt, J Grunberg and A Felix
Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032.
The authors report the results of a before-and-after evaluation of an
on-site mental health day treatment program for homeless men. Thirty- two
subjects were interviewed 6 or more months after placement from a crisis
shelter to community housing in order to probe housing stability, aftercare
treatment compliance, employment, rehospitalization, and criminal justice
contacts. In the after phase, living on the street was virtually
eliminated, use of shelters decreased sevenfold, aftercare utilization
tripled, and contacts with the criminal justice system were halved.
Psychiatric hospitalizations and unemployment were higher in the after
phase. Findings are discussed in relation to the need to conduct controlled
experiments of new psychosocial treatments for the homeless mentally ill.
