THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has funded important TAC initiatives to assist states and community agencies to expand quality treatment and services as well as permanent supportive housing opportunities for people with disabilities. RWJF has also supported TAC's national policy work related to integrated community housing and services for people with disabilities. Recent RWJF-supported initiatives include:
Developing Federal Policy & Strategies to Take Permanent Supportive Housing to Scale. TAC received grant funding from RWJF to develop federal policy and strategies to incentivize states to undertake cross-disability permanent supportive housing strategies at scale. TAC's work with federal officials aimed to: (a) develop an integrated federal policy framework that incentivizes expansion of PSH at scale for people with disabilities who are homeless or most at risk of homelessness, and for people who are institutionalized or most at risk of institutionalization; (b) develop and align cross-agency policies and funding requirements that produce sustainable, integrated PSH through major federal programs including Medicaid; and (c) support effective working relationships among federal agencies to plan, finance, implement, and evaluate PSH at scale.
TAC's work has resulted in increasingly effective collaboration across federal agencies, resulting in two thirds of the states proposing state-driven PSH policy and mainstream financing to create integrated PSH through HUD's first competitive Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Section 811 PRA Demonstration program.
Implementing Permanent Supportive Housing for People with Disabilities in Louisiana. TAC received grant funding from RWJF to provide capacity building, technical assistance, and policy support for Louisiana's cross-disability 3,000 unit permanent supportive housing (PSH) initiative, a critical part of the state's Road Home hurricane recovery plan following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. This included working with state officials and local human service organizations to design, develop, and implement best practice PSH outreach, referral, and community-based service delivery. TAC also assisted with development and implementation of a plan to sustain supportive services through Medicaid. An evaluation of the program found: (a) housing retention rates approximating 95 percent; and (b) a reduction of average monthly Medicaid costs of 24%.
Resources for Recovery: State Practices that Expand Treatment Opportunities. TAC managed this national RWJF program to help states expand their substance use treatment systems through more efficient use of existing resources and funding streams. Fifteen state teams analyzed how treatment in their state was financed, administered, and delivered, and identified strategies to maximize the use of Medicaid to cover substance use treatment resources and improve services. Five of the states were awarded grants to implement improvement strategies. In addition to managing the overall program, TAC provided technical assistance to the state teams participating in the program.
Integrated Public Behavioral Health Financing Strategies. TAC organized a continuous learning network comprised of participants from state and county jurisdictions to develop combined funding strategies from disparate service systems for adults with mental health and/or substance use treatment and rehabilitation needs. Participants learned how other states and jurisdictions have successfully implemented integrated public behavioral health funding strategies; were provided with expert advice on development and implementation of these strategies; and gained access to the knowledge of experienced peers and expert technical assistance on design and implementation issues related to integrated funding of public mental health and substance use services and systems.
