News

The March 2014 issue of Psychiatric Services has published an article authored by TAC Executive Director Kevin Martone titled "Impact of Failed Housing Policy on the Public Behavioral Health System." In the article, Mr. Martone uses data from Priced Out, published biennially by TAC and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force with support from the Melville Charitable Trust, to make the case that nowhere is the country can an individual with serious mental illness receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) afford safe, decent housing. The article points to the failure of housing policy in addressing the needs of extremely low-income individuals with serious mental illness as the cause for the most visible and costly failures attributed to the behavioral health system: institutionalization, incarceration, and chronic homelessness. The article calls for the behavioral health field to advocate for housing policies that prioritize the needs of individuals with serious mental illness to ensure the successful implementation of health reform and community integration efforts and to end chronic homelessness.

View the article's abstract

Learn more about TAC's work on Behavioral Health and Permanent Supportive Housing