Findings of a Formative Evaluation of a Transitional Housing Program for Forensic Patients Discharged into the Community

Abstract

Using results from a formative evaluation, this article describes the transitional rehabilitation housing pilot (TRHP) program located in two metropolitan Canadian cities. TRHP is an innovative community mental health service, created to support hospitalized forensic patients in their transition to living independently in the community. The evaluation used a multimethod, multi-informant approach to describe TRHP services and assess their quality. Results suggest that TRHP is serving the intended population and generally being implemented as planned. Stakeholders identified numerous strengths and weaknesses of the program. Findings are discussed in the context of previous research and their implications for future program development.

KEYWORDS:

• community-based rehabilitation
• mental illness
• offender rehabilitation
• program evaluation
• reintegration

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the research through a grant from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation.