Innovations in Recovery Management for People Experiencing Prolonged Homelessness in the City of Philadelphia: “I wanted a new beginning”

Abstract

Substance use disorders and related conditions play significant roles in urban homelessness and its personal and social costs. Traditional addiction treatment programs have failed to attract, engage, retain, and effectively treat this population, leaving homeless persons excluded from addiction treatment or constituting a chronically recycling segment of the treatment population. This article describes the design and outcomes of the Journey of Hope Project—a special homeless initiative that was part of a broader “recovery-focused systems transformation process” in the city of Philadelphia. New approaches to outreach, treatment, and continuing recovery management demonstrated the ability to recruit, retain, and enhance long-term recovery outcomes for individuals with histories of severe substance use and related disorders and chronic homelessness. The service designs described and the service outcomes reported underscore the need to radically alter traditional service models to achieve enhanced long-term recovery outcomes with this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Homeless
• addiction treatment
• outreach
• housing
• co-occurring disorders
• service integration

Notes

Support for the development of this article was provided by the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. The following individuals provided important contributions to this article: Christine N. Boisvert facilitated focus groups and interviews and assisted with research for this article as part of her MSW internship for the University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy and Practice. Dianna Wine contributed to the overall research and first draft of this article as part of her master's internship for Arcadia University, School of Medical Science and School of Public Health. Mayra Negron facilitated focus groups and interviews for this paper as part of her bachelor's internship for Alvernia University, School of Behavioral Health. Contributions to this article have also been provided by David Holloman, DBH Coordinator of Homeless Outreach Services; Jacqui Blatt, Director of Horizon House Susquehanna Park; Tony Moses, Director of Miracles in Progress II; Cynthia Baran, Director of Womanspace Philadelphia; and Carol Thomas, Director of New Start I and II.