The Central Iowa Health and Housing Project will provide support for 60 participants annually and 280 total adult individuals in Central Iowa who experience homelessness and have substance use disorders (SUDs) or co-occurring mental and substance abuse disorders (CODs). The project will provide a comprehensive system of integrated services to support placement in permanent housing. Primary Health Care, Inc. (PHC), a Federally Qualified Health Center and Health Care for the Homeless grantee, will lead the project in collaboration with UCS HealthCare and will build on the successful Centralized Intake and Coordinated Entry system to provide increased access to permanent housing, behavioral health services, and other supportive services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. This project will help clients improve their quality of life and achieve self-sufficiency by supporting them in their efforts to maintain recovery from mental health and substance use disorders.
The project will utilize the Critical Time Intervention (CTI) model to provide emotional and
practical support during the transition to stable housing. Grant funds will be used to hire three
full-time Case Managers to help clients find housing and link them to supports, including primary care, mental health care, substance abuse counseling, and other services. This project will use evidence-based protocols and engage an extensive network of providers to ensure clients have access to a full continuum of services. Grant funds will also be used to hire two full time Peer Support Workers.
Project goals and objectives include: increasing the number of obtain and maintain permanent housing, enrolling clients in benefits, screening and referring clients to mental health and sub stance abuse services, providing clients with supportive services that improve their chances in at long term recovery and housing, and establishing care for clients physical health. The project's progress toward achieving goals will be monitored by Steering Committee and an experienced evaluator that will oversee data collection and analysis.