Odyssey House

Odyssey House Wins Housing Award

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Housing support for homeless families with substance use disorders

January 26, 2012: Odyssey House has been selected by the New York State Office of Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) to receive $499,000 in annual funding to provide 20 permanent supportive housing apartments with case management and vocational services staff for families who were homeless when they entered an Odyssey House intensive residential facility, and are now scheduled to complete that course of treatment.

This innovative housing model will target chronically homeless families; families at serious risk of becoming chronically homeless; and other currently homeless families, in which the head-of-household has a substance use disorder.

The award was announced by New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, who called the initiative “another component of the New York/New York III Agreement that has brought together many State and City agencies and departments in a multi-year effort to address homelessness.”

Odyssey House has significant experience working with families in residential and outpatient treatment settings as well as supportive housing programs. At any one time up to 210 women and children live in specially equipped family accommodations in one of the organization’s treatment centers. The comprehensive services provided include: intensive substance abuse, mental health, and family counseling; medical and dental care; vocational, educational, legal, and housing support; and onsite licensed childcare services that include nurseries and early Head Start programs.

Dr. Peter Provet, President and CEO of Odyssey House welcomed the Governor’s support for families in treatment and added: “As our understanding of what it means to be in recovery evolves, and we develop programs that address the bio-psycho-social needs of families in treatment, the provision of safe, affordable housing is a key component of a holistic approach to treating substance abuse disorders.”

The continuum of family services offered by Odyssey House extends through intensive residential and structured outpatient programs to supervised, community-based, peer-led recovery services. The emphasis throughout the organization’s provision of services is to support individuals and families in making a healthy and sustainable transition to independent and productive lives. The programming goals for families eligible for permanent housing under this new award are to ensure housing stability in a safe and supportive environment; improve family functioning and stability; promote family health and wellness; and enable families to achieve the maximum possible recovery and integration into the community.

One of the biggest barriers to achieving a sustained recovery for many people who enter treatment at Odyssey House is where they will live following treatment. Almost 60 percent of residents are homeless upon admission. For homeless families where the parent (typically the mother, but Odyssey House also serves fathers who have custody of their children) is in need of residential treatment and it is determined to be in the best interests of the young children to keep the family unit together, entering a residential treatment program can disqualify the family for homeless services and jeopardize their chance to receive housing.

This innovative supportive housing program will help remove this barrier by allowing families in treatment, who meet the Department of Homeless Services criteria based on the family’s lodging history, to still qualify for subsidized permanent supportive housing, and thereby address the profound problems of substance abuse and homelessness.

Odyssey House has a strong record of success in developing and operating supportive housing and has consistently demonstrated an ability to effectively provide these services for the neediest homeless New Yorkers.

Over the last 20 years, the organization has opened eight new housing programs using both congregate care and scatter-site models, providing population-specific and mixed-use programs for the mentally ill, substance abusers and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).

Odyssey House’s comprehensive system of housing services includes:

  • Family Re-Entry – individual, furnished, two-bedroom apartments for parents and children in full-time residential treatment, 24-hour supervision, and full access to Odyssey House services
  • Odyssey House Harbor – a 60-bed, congregate care residence for homeless dually-diagnosed men and women with severe mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders
  • Odyssey House Haven – a 63-unit, permanent supportive housing program for chronically homeless people living with HIV/AIDS and for the medically frail
  • 25 Shelter Plus Care units – transitional housing for parents and children, as well as special needs populations
  • 45 units of scatter-site supportive housing
  • Odyssey House Park Avenue – a 50-bed, extended stay licensed housing program for low-income adults with serious mental illness, chemical addiction who would otherwise be homeless

Currently, Odyssey House has two new supportive housing projects in development, providing a further 58 and 65 apartments in the South Bronx with construction commencement slated for early 2012.

Odyssey House Offers New Peer-Run Services for People in Early Recovery

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October 8, 2010: Odyssey House, a non-profit substance abuse treatment, mental health provider and supportive housing agency, has been awarded a three-year, $1.2 million grant by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to fund enhanced services for individuals and families in recovery from alcohol and substance abuse. The new program, called the Odyssey House Recovery Oriented Care System (OHROCS), will deliver recovery support services using the evidence-based Therapeutic Community peer mentoring model that includes coaching, personal recovery plans, peer-to-peer support groups and incentives.

The goal of the OHROCS program is to support people in the early stages of recovery. Volunteer mentors (who receive a small stipend) are paired with individual mentees and work closely with them to achieve the recovery goals defined in the mentees’ recovery plan. Peer support practices that engage clients in the recovery process as they transition to independent, sober living are proven to reduce drug use during and after treatment and improve social connectedness, quality of life, and self-image.

Dr. Peter Provet, president of Odyssey House said today: “A peer support system that builds on techniques individuals learn in treatment offers an exciting opportunity to extend the reach of recovery services to where people live and work.

“With this new program, people new to recovery will have access to a network of experienced peers who have successfully navigated the transition from treatment to independent, sober living. While this service is not new to Odyssey House – our alumnae group has long offered valuable support to people leaving treatment – the additional resources afforded by this grant, such as a paid stipend, will help us recruit and keep individuals who have a lot to offer. Treatment is already a bargain compared to the significant costs attributed to untreated addiction, from loss of income, increased use of social and medical services, and the high price of criminal justice services. By extending our services with this low-cost recovery network we will provide the taxpayer with even greater savings.”

The OHROCS program will serve 330 individuals in early recovery and will be based at Odyssey House Outpatient Services, 953 Southern Blvd., Bronx, New York.

Expanding Drug Treatment: Is US Ready to Step Up?

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An Associated Press national feature story, “Expanding Drug Treatment: Is US Ready to Step Up?,” was picked up on Monday, November 9, 2009, by more than 240 news outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR and The Los Angeles Times. In the article, Odyssey House President Peter Provet and Odyssey House Program Director Darrin Brown, who directs our Edgecombe parolee treatment program, discuss the merits of drug treatment as an alternative to incarceration. The news package also includes interviews with clients and a video featuring Dr. Provet and Director of OASAS Residential Services Susan Plaza, which can be viewed below.

Odyssey House Family Center Program Chosen for New SAMHSA Award

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$1.4 million three-year federal grant enhances residential treatment and community services for women and children

 

Odyssey House has been awarded a multi-year $1.4 million services grant to enhance its comprehensive services for pregnant and postpartum women in residential substance abuse treatment. The three-year Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant will allow Odyssey House to address the substance abuse, medical, social and psychological needs of pregnant women and women with children with histories of substance abuse or chemical dependency. The enhanced program will also includes resources to engage the resident’s extended family members and/or significant others in the treatment process.

Dr. Peter Provet, president and CEO of Odyssey House, said this new funding is a “significant investment in the depth and range of services we offer mothers in our Family Center programs. Odyssey House’s mission is to support the whole family by helping parents achieve a sustained recovery, teaching them the life skills they need to maintain a healthy and nurturing home, and guiding them in the development of strong family and community connections. This new award gives us the resources to do more: more family therapy, more family reunification, and more community outreach.”

Women are typically confronted with multiple barriers when seeking substance abuse treatment, including a lack of targeted programs for mothers and their children that allow young families to stay together while the mother participates in residential treatment. Odyssey House has been addressing this challenge with innovative programs since 1973 when it created the nation’s first residential mother and child treatment program on Wards Island in Upper Manhattan. Since then, this pioneering family substance abuse treatment program has expanded to provide comprehensive services for up to 210 women and children in facilities that include discrete residential living areas, on-site nursery through pre-K childcare, on-site primary healthcare services (including pediatric and dental care), transitional independent living accommodations, educational and vocational programs.

With more than 40 years experience of providing continuous programming to women and their children, Odyssey House has developed a model of care that is sensitive to the specific needs of an underserved population of mostly single mothers. Evidence shows that programs specifically catering to, and providing targeted services, for pregnant women and mothers lead to longer treatment episodes – up to three times as long as programs without dedicated children’s services. Studies also found that women who entered treatment with their infants were less depressed and had higher self-esteem than mothers whose children did not accompany them into treatment

Key objectives of the “Healthy Mothers Healthy Families Program” (HMHF) include:

* improve retention, decrease symptoms of trauma, and increase family functioning;

* engage families, partners of women, fathers of children, and older children in substance abuse treatment using evidence-based Behavioral Therapy, and Motivational Enhancement Therapy models; and

* decrease involvement in and exposure to crime, violence, sexual and physical abuse, and child abuse and neglect.

 

Odyssey House provides quality substance abuse treatment, mental health, medical, dental and housing services to vulnerable New Yorkers. Family-focused residential and outpatient treatment meets the needs of women with children, adolescents, young adults, the mentally ill, the homeless, people living with HIV/AIDS, and senior citizens. For further information on Odyssey House, please visit our website at: www.odysseyhousenyc.org, or call: 212-587-5100.

Our Fall 2008 newsletter is now available!

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Odyssey House Newsletter Fall 2008

The Fall 2008 edition of Odyssey House News is now available online. Read about our Run For Your Life event, latest art project, new programs and more. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments or on our Facebook wall. Click here to read it (pdf). If you’d like to receive a copy in the mail, please email your contact information to info(at)odysseyhousenyc.org.