Participants In Denver’s ‘Housing First’ Program Made Fewer Emergency Department Visits & More Mental Health Office Visits

A Denver, Colorado “Housing First” program for chronically homeless individuals with frequent arrests and jail stays, resulted in decreasing emergency department visits among people referred to the program as compared to people in services as usual. Additionally, the participants averaged eight more office visits for their psychiatric diagnoses and three more prescription medications. Medicaid enrollment was five percentage points lower among those in the Housing First Program than among a comparison group, although among both groups Medicaid enrollment rates increased over the two-year evaluation period.

“Housing First” programs connect homeless individuals to housing without requiring sobriety, or other preconditions . . .