In this Treatment for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness (TIEH) project, Nicasa, a behavioral health services organization offering mental health and substance abuse treatment as well as family supportive services will partner with PADS (Providing Advocacy Dignity and Shelter) Lake County to expand each agency’s ability to serve the homeless population coping with a serious mental illness (SMI) or co-occurring disorder of an SMI and substance abuse.
At any given time in Lake County, there are 500 homeless individuals on the streets or in shelters. Lake County is characterized by areas of great wealth and pockets of abject poverty. African Americans make up 7.5% of the general population of the county, but are 59% of the 1,538 homeless individuals that PADS served in FY 17. The Lake County Coalition for the Homeless documents that 27.5% of these people are already diagnosed with an SMI and a significant percentage has a COD with substance abuse.
The overarching goals of this TIEH project are to expand Nicasa’s and PADS’ ability to integrate behavioral health treatment and recovery support services for individuals and families with SMI or COD who are experiencing homelessness We seek to increase the capacity to provide accessible, effective, comprehensive, coordinated, integrated and evidence-based treatment services, peer support, and other recovery support services and linkages to sustainable permanent housing. Linking the two agencies more closely will allow us to reach an extremely vulnerable population that might otherwise “fall through the cracks.”
Nicasa, in collaboration with PADS, will serve 40 adults in the first year of the grant and 60 adults each in years two through five with a total of 280 adults served over the five year grant period. Evidenced based programs that will be utilized in this TIEH project include numerous screening tools, Housing First, Motivational Interviewing, Integrated Treatment of Co-Occurring Disorders, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Nicasa is licensed to provide both mental health and substance abuse therapies. PADS, the largest provider of services to the homeless in Lake County operates a Day Resource Center, a seasonal Emergency Shelter program, a Family Shelter, a small Housing First program and a Supportive House program.
The TIEH project will be formally evaluated by Dr. Richard Sherman of the Sherman Consulting Group, LLC (SCG, LLC). Anticipated outcomes include statistically significant improvement in participants’ mental health status, personal and social functioning, abstinence from substance use, reduced criminal justice involvement, improved employment and housing status, access and retention in services, and social connectedness.
Nicasa, PADS, and SCG, LLC, have significant and long-standing experience in achieving long-term success on federally-funded projects. We anticipate no barriers to opening these expanded services in the fourth month of the grant period.