SAMHSA

Investing in a Professional, Caring, and Mission-driven Workforce

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BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NEWS

 By Staff Writer Odyssey House

The behavioral health care workforce is one of the fastest growing in the country. Projections for 2020, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, forecast a significant rise in employment for substance abuse and mental health counselors with a 36% increase from 2010-2020 – greater than the 11% projected for all occupations.

This increase, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Workforce Issues Report of 2013, is based on an expected increase in insurance coverage for mental health and substance abuse services brought about by passage of health reform and parity legislation; the rising rate of military veterans seeking behavioral health services; and the growing opioid epidemic.

SAMHSA’s prediction both confirms the value of our talented workforce and presents challenges for under-resourced social services to meet the increased demand.

As behavioral health care providers, we are confronted with a range of expectations: ensuring our services meet the needs of diverse populations with a complex set of problems; satisfying increased demands for demonstrated outcomes; and doing more with shrinking resources.

Helping us rise to these challenges at Odyssey House is our professional and dedicated workforce. This broad staff of 350 employees include licensed counselors, social workers, doctors, nurses, and dentists, wellness and recreational coordinators, facility and housing managers, educators, administrative, communications and financial managers, maintenance, nutrition, security and transportation coordinators. All of these staff perform essential roles that keep our clients moving forward in their journey towards health and recovery.

While the roles our staff fulfill each day are quite different, the expectations are the same across the organization: that clients come first; policies and procedures are strictly adhered to; and our resources are tightly managed to be cost-effective and outcome driven. Accomplishing these tasks in a challenging human services environment where clients require intensive care for a myriad of emotional, mental, and physical health deficits, demands practice and training.

Investing in Training

Training is an integral part of ongoing performance management at Odyssey House. We encourage our clinical and administrative staff to take advantage of inhouse training opportunities and offer tuition reimbursement towards the cost of professional accreditations and courses. In 2015, our employees earned 35 professional awards ranging from Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) and Certified Addiction Recovery Coach, to Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in social work and accounting.

The Odyssey House training department offers a range of professional development options that support direct service and management staff in both progressing their careers and delivering the highest quality care to our clients. Workplace trainings are adaptive to our service environment, track trends and study client profiles, monitor client management systems, and review incidents, chart audits, and quality assurance activities. Training is delivered by experienced licensed staff including medical doctors, clinical social workers, mental health counselors, and certified rehabilitation recreation counselors.

In 2015, clinical staff participated in one or more training sessions that included both group workshops and online individual courses that focused on motivational interviewing, opioid overdose prevention, level of care placement, diagnosis using DSM-5 criteria, ethics and boundaries, safety and crisis management for mental health workers, and cultural diversity and competency.

And we also offered administrative trainings including clinical recordkeeping, documenting medical necessity, fire safety, workplace safety, electronic health record keeping, incident reporting, HIPAA and other confidentiality rules, and basic writing skills.

Focused and Flexible Online Training

We recently enhanced our capabilities with the addition of flexible web-based training. This online system, offered by Relias Learning Management Systems (RMS), further allows staff to refresh their skills and stay up-to-date with regulatory changes ushered in by the 2010 Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act of 2008. Topics covered include general administrative management requirements like corporate compliance and ethics, fire safety, HIPAA overview, sexual harassment/discrimination prevention, hazardous chemicals, infection control, quality improvement, blood-borne pathogens, and first aid refresher.

We are also utilizing RMS to deliver a range of clinical management trainings including: Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for individuals with substance use issues, domestic and intimate partner violence, overview of clinical supervision, best practices in substance use treatment engagement, structured group therapy approaches, co-occurring disorders, and HIV/AIDS.

Odyssey House is committed to developing and maintaining a professional behavioral health care workforce. The clinically focused in-service trainings we offer can be used towards CASAC continuing education credits and many are also approved for New York State Social Work continuing education hours.

By making training a priority, our staff can work in confidence, assured they have the resources and skills they need to succeed in a demanding and rewarding workplace. 

Opportunities for Improved Services with Integrated Care

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BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NEWS

By Peter Provet, PhD

The key component of integrated care – coordination of primary and behavioral health services in a way that is accessible from one place – is not a new concept for many substance abuse treatment organizations, such as Odyssey House in New York City, that operate Article 28 licensed medical and dental services as part of comprehensive residential and outpatient treatment. Odyssey House opened its first NYS Department of Health-licensed primary medical clinic in 1992. Staffed by primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and registered nurses, this clinic, co-located in a residential treatment center, was an early model of integrated care. For close to 25 years, our residents have benefited from accessible, on-site services that provide coordinated medical, dental, and behavioral health care across a multi-site system of treatment and housing services.

Early on, substance abuse treatment professionals realized bringing primary care into the treatment community offers clients significant benefits including: integration of medical, psychiatric, pharmacy, prevention, and social work services, and less missed time from treatment. On-site medical clinics were found to reduce use of emergency rooms for non-urgent care, improve management of preventable conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and hypertension and treatment outcomes by encouraging clients to stay in long-term programs.

A 2013 report by the Center for Integrated Health Solutions, published jointly by the Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Human Resources Administration (HRA), looked at integrated primary care services and substance abuse treatment and convincingly found that the integration of physical health and addictions care not only helps reduce barriers to primary care, it also enhances recovery from substance abuse.

“In fact,” the report states, “two or more primary care visits in a 6-month period have shown to improve abstinence by 50 percent in individuals with substance abuse disorders, and those with medical conditions related to substance abuse are three times more likely to achieve remission over 5 years. Regular health and addictions care for people with substance abuse disorders also decreased hospitalizations by up to 30 percent. Lastly, substance use screening and services improve the general health of individuals with co-occurring substance abuse and physical health conditions and reduce the overall costs to the healthcare system.”

Today’s model of integrated care, ushered in by passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 and the earlier Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equality Act (MHPAEA) in 2008, provides opportunities for behavioral health care organizations to further develop integrated care services. According to SAMHSA, ACA expands benefits to approximately 60 million Americans. This legislation mandates coverage of certain preventive services and, together with MHPAEA, ensures health insurers provide the same level of benefits for behavioral health.

This, as we know, is all good news for people in need of substance abuse and mental health treatment who also have physical health needs. Studies have shown that individuals with substance use and mental health disorders who also receive treatment for medical conditions demonstrate improved outcomes in both behavioral and physical health. The demand for medical services is further supported by advances in addiction treatment medication which require appropriately trained staff to administer and monitor these medications for opioid and alcohol addictions.

With the expansion of services comes significant changes to the way Odyssey House, and other behavioral health organizations, must deliver care. Chief among them in New York is a restructuring of Medicaid under the DSRIP (Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment) as part of the Medicaid Redesign Team’s mandate. This effort is charged with reducing avoidable hospital visits by 25 percent over five years by transforming systems and clinical management, and improving population health. Achieving these goals requires the integration of several systems of care from community-based clinics and hospitals, to supportive housing and rehabilitation services.

Positioning for the New Health Care Marketplace

As we prepare for, and participate in, the restructuring of health care services, Odyssey House is gearing up to expand community-based primary, behavioral health, and dental services located at our Family Center in East Harlem and outpatient center in the South Bronx. We are currently included in three Preferred Provider Systems (PPS) that include Mount Sinai, Bronx Lebanon, and Health and Hospital Corporation of New York, and have executed numerous contracts with managed care companies for primary and behavioral health care.

Our services are aligned with the core Health and Recovery Plan (HARP) principles that require Medicaid beneficiaries with mental illness and/or substance use disorders be provided with services in their own communities. These include an array of mandated Home and CommunityBased Services (HCBS) that are:

  • Person-centered
  • Recovery-oriented
  • Integrated
  • Data-driven
  •  Evidence-based
  • Trauma-informed
  • Peer-supported
  • Culturally competent
  • Flexible and mobile
  • Inclusive of social network
  • Coordinated and collaborated.

As an HCBS provider Odyssey House is designated to provide the following behavioral health services:

  • Community psychiatric support and treatment
  •  Psychosocial rehabilitation
  • Habilitation/rehabilitation support services
  •  Family support and training
  •  Pre-vocational services
  • Ongoing supported employment
  •  Educational support services
  •  Empowerment services – peer supports.

Another way we are preparing for changes in the integrated behavioral health care environment is by exploring an FQHC Look-alike designation at our Family Center in East Harlem. While FQHCs qualify for enhanced reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid, as well as other benefits, they must serve an underserved area or population, offer a sliding fee scale, provide comprehensive services, have ongoing quality assurance programs, and have an independent governing board of directors.

The criteria demanded to provide integrated primary and behavioral health care are aligned with the 48 year-old mission of Odyssey House to provide high-quality, holistic, treatment impacting all major life spheres: psychological, physical, social, family, educational and spiritual.

While the new regulatory environment brings challenges to how we manage our limited resources, who we partner with, and how we monitor the health needs of the individuals we serve, the benefits of an integrated system promise improved care for underserved Americans, not least among them the millions of individuals with substance use and/or mental health disorders.

 

 

 

Odyssey House Family-Focused Programs Offer a Trauma-Informed Approach to Treating Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders

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Behavioral Health News

By Justin Mitchell, LMHC, Vice President, Adult Residential Services, and Peter Provet, PhD, President & CEO

Women who have been physically, sexually, and/or emotionally abused are at a significantly higher risk of abusing alcohol and other drugs. As many as 90 percent of women with mental health and substance abuse disorders have histories of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. It is impossible to effectively treat women without also incorporating clinical services which target trauma and its connection to substance abuse and mental health disorders.

In the past two decades, significant progress has been made in the integration of substance use and mental health disorder treatment. This progress is the result of years of research that supports the efficacy of treating co-occurring disorders in an inclusive manner. Providers have been slower, however, to recognize and treat co-morbid traumatic stress as it relates to substance use and mental health disorders. While treatment providers have made efforts at integrating trauma-informed and trauma-specific services, more providers need to undertake the programmatic changes that are necessary to effectively treat traumatic stress in relation to substance abuse and mental health disorders.

Odyssey House has undertaken this treatment imperative, and over the last four years we have implemented organizational changes that allow us to evolve our family program into one which is both trauma-informed in its delivery and which provides access to specific clinical services that address trauma, substance abuse, and mental health disorders.

Understanding Treatment Needs Of Women And Children

Women and children have long been at an increased risk of exposure to trauma. This risk only increases when we look at women and children who are struggling with mental health and substance abuse disorders. Research has demonstrated that between 48 to 90 percent of women with mental health and substance abuse disorders also have histories of interpersonal abuse (Lipschitz et al, 1996) and, according to Jahn Moses et al (2003), “Fifty-five to 99 percent of woman substance abusers report being victimized at some point in their lives.” Women with substance use problems are also significantly more likely than men to exhibit recent physical, emotional or sexual abuse (Gentilello et al, 2000); and children of substance abusers are almost three times more likely to be physically or sexually assaulted, and more than four times as likely to be neglected than children whose parents are not substance abusers (CASA, 1999).

Traumatic events experienced by these at-risk women and children include: physical, psychological and sexual abuse; domestic violence; witnessing violence against others; and preventable accidents in the home. In “Women and addiction: A gender-responsive approach,” researcher Stephanie Covington states that “a history of being abused drastically increases the likelihood that a woman will abuse alcohol and other drugs,” and suggests that by “integrating trauma treatment with addiction treatment, we reduce the risk of trauma-based relapse.”

Choosing Best Practice Models For Holistic Family Treatment

In 2009, we began the implementation of a new holistic family treatment model. We called it Healthy Mothers Healthy Families (HMHF) because the program addresses the unique life circumstances and needs of pregnant and postpartum women and their children. Funded by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), this intensive service combines evidence-based trauma and parenting therapies with substance use disorder treatment in a model of care that incorporates the whole family unit, not just the individual in treatment.

To address clients’ histories of trauma and prevent trauma-related relapse, we implemented four evidence-based trauma-specific services that support clients in treatment for substance abuse and mental health disorders.

The first, Seeking Safety, is a present-focused coping skills approach designed to simultaneously treat substance use disorders and disorders related to histories of trauma. This practice is based on five key concepts: safety as the treatment priority; integrated treatment; a focus on ideals; attention to clinical processes; and the inclusion of cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, and case management content areas.

The second practice, Trauma, Recovery and Empowerment Model (TREM), is a group-based intervention designed to facilitate trauma recovery among women with histories of exposure to sexual and physical abuse. Drawing on cognitive restructuring, psycho- educational, and skills-training techniques, the genderspecific group emphasizes the development of coping skills and social support. It addresses both short-term and long-term consequences of violent victimization, including mental health symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and substance abuse.

The majority of women in treatment at the Odyssey House Family Center are parents. At any one time, 60 parents and 60 children under six years of age live in our residential center in East Harlem or community residence in the Bronx. For these women, and other participants who are seeking custody of their children, we utilize an evidence based practice specifically designed for families with a history of substance abuse. Nurturing Parent Program for Families in Substance Abuse Treatment and Recovery (NPP) is built on the principles of relational development: that parents and children are highly affected by their relationships with each other; that parents and children develop a sense of self through their relationships with each other; and that the parent-child relationship requires a sense of connectedness in order to experience healthy growth and mutual satisfaction. All activities in this practice are designed to help participants learn how to nurture themselves as individuals and in turn lay the foundation for a nurturing family unit.

Approximately 15 percent of women in our family programs are pregnant when they enter treatment. For these vulnerable women, extending their treatment stay through delivery and the postpartum period is a critical goal. The fourth evidence-based practice, Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), is designed to improve retention of women who were pregnant entering treatment. The results of applying this practice are particularly heartening. Almost twice as many women who participated in MET remained in treatment for 30 days compared to pregnant women who enrolled in treatment in the three years prior to the implementation of this therapeutic model.

Data-Driven Results Support Efficacy Of Intensive Residential Model

Over the course of the four-year HMHF grant, we served 150 women, 61 of whom were pregnant at the time of admission. Using intake and six-month follow-up screenings the data showed significant positive rates of change in all major areas measured. The largest increases at follow-up were observed in employment/education with one in three women in school or employed compared to one in 10 at intake (177 percent increase), and a 150 percent increase in abstinence. Criminal justice involvement was reduced, with 98 percent of women reporting no involvement at follow-up compared to 88 percent at intake, and almost 100 percent of participants reported improved social connectedness and no consequences of substance use.

The HMHF model has been effective at working with women to see a psychiatrist, if indicated at screening. This resulted in an 83 percent increase in the number of women prescribed medication for psychological or emotional problems, and a significant improvement in participants’ mental health, including a 40 percent reduction in depression, 18 percent reduction in anxiety, and 32 percent reduction in trouble understanding, concentrating or remembering. In addition, 60 percent of the women reported reduced trauma symptoms at follow-up and a 27 percent reduction in difficulty controlling violent behavior.

Future Development Of Best-Practice Substance Abuse And Mental Health Treatment

Odyssey House clinical experience points to the essential benefits of trauma-informed services when treating women with substance abuse and mental health disorders. The most effective model is a comprehensive service that screens and treats trauma-related symptoms using the following criteria:

All clients, especially women, should be screened and assessed for PTSD;
Clients identified with histories of traumatic experience should receive treatment that explores the relationship between substance use/mental health disorders and the traumatic experience;

Evidence-based trauma-specific services should be incorporated into the program structure.

For further information on Odyssey House treatment services for women and children, please call: 212-987-5100, or write to: info@odysseyhousenyc.org.

Center Will Use Federal Grant to Provide Post-Treatment Mentoring to 330 Clients

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 Addiction Professional by Gary A. Enos, Editor

 

Odyssey House sees peer-run services as a pivotal trend for the field.

 

The president and CEO of New York City-based addiction treatment organization Odyssey House sees his field as increasingly successful in engaging people into treatment but less adept in extending recovery post-treatment. Through a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Peter Provet, PhD’s organization will be able to build on recovery support efforts by matching individuals in recovery to peer mentors who will help them realize the goals of multidimensional recovery plans.

“This project is about building recovery into the community,” says Provet, whose organization employs the therapeutic community (TC) model of treatment. “This is lengthening the methodology of recovery.”

The three-year, $1.2 million SAMHSA grant is expected to finance an initiative that will launch in December and will provide mentoring services for 330 individuals. Potential peer mentors, who will not be required to be Odyssey House program graduates, will be interviewed and will receive formal training through a recovery coaching academy housed in Connecticut.

“We want to find mature individuals who are in it for the right reasons, who are solidly in their own recovery and are not just counseling in order to have their own needs met,” Provet says. Mentors will receive a stipend of around $65 a week. They will be required to have at least six months of post-treatment stability in order to work with clients.

The mentors will assist individuals in early recovery in developing concrete recovery plans covering a number of life domains, from substance use to financial independence to social support. In what Provet considers to be a critical element of the grant program, rewards will be offered for meeting goals of participation, with small gift cards and the opportunity to win larger prizes available to the mentees.

Individuals in treatment will be informed of the services’ availability before they complete treatment. Attempts will be made to match clients and mentors according to age and gender.

And in keeping with the idea of “giving back” that is inherent in this initiative, mentees will have the opportunity to become mentors themselves, sometime after completing an estimated six months to a year in the program, Provet explains.

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.

Odyssey House Award Brings Enhanced Outpatient Treatment Services to Bronx Teens and Families

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$900,000 SAMHSA grant will fund Bronx Urban Youth Initiative (BUY-IN) at Odyssey House Outpatient Center in the South Bronx

 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded Odyssey House $900,000 over three years to provide substance abuse treatment services to teens and young adults, 18-24 years of age. Bronx Urban Initiative (BUY-IN) is an innovative substance abuse treatment for older adolescents and young adults that involves family members/significant others in the treatment process.

Research studies show that involving family members in youth outpatient treatment aids in the promotion of abstinence from marijuana, other drugs and alcohol by modifying the conditions at home that can promote substance abuse. This new program will build on Odyssey House residential treatment services and provide substance abuse treatment services to adolescents, older transition-age youth, their families, and other primary caregivers as a means of helping adolescents successfully transition back into their communities after completing treatment programs.

Odyssey House treatment professionals will also promote positive social activity in lieu of drug taking and encourage the development of positive peer relationships and fostering of healthy drug-free friendships.

Dr. Peter Provet, president and CEO of Odyssey House said the federal funding will allow Odyssey House to enroll over 100 adolescents, and for each at least one corresponding family member, in services. “We have more than 40 years experience treating teens with chronic substance abuse and other behavioral problems. In that time we have helped thousands of young people move beyond addiction and develop sustainable relationships with family members and other supportive adults.”

“Partnership with SAMHSA/CSAT will allow us to deepen the range of services we currently offer at-risk youth and families, and bring additional federal dollars to underserved New York City communities.”

Odyssey House is one of 14 treatment providers across the nation chosen by SAMHSA to provide new family centered substance abuse treatment programs for adolescents and their families. “These grants bolster programs helping young people with substance abuse issues work toward recovery and productive lives in the community,” said SAMHSA Acting Administrator Eric Broderick, D.D.S. M.P.H. “This family centered treatment approach offers youth the critical support they need from the caring adults in their lives to help them be successful and to build healthy and promising futures.”

Odyssey House will implement evidence-based practices, specifically the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) coupled with Assertive Continuing Care (ACC), that focus on the young person’s interaction with his or her family and community. Families, primary caregivers, and other identified and appropriate adults are an integral part of the treatment process and their inclusion increases the likelihood of successful treatment and reintegration of the youth into their communities following the period of formalized treatment.

Young adults can be referred to the new enhanced outpatient services following completion of residential treatment at Odyssey House or other long-term programs, from community-based social services or criminal justice organizations, and directly via concerned family members.

 

 

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 more information on our services, please visit: www.odysseyhousenyc.org, or call, 212-987- 5100.

Housing Initiative Helps Reduce Risk of Relapse

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$200,000 SAMHSA grant targets individuals coping with homelessness, chemical dependency, and mental illness

Odyssey House has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to provide housing placement assistance for adults coping with homelessness, chemical dependency, and mental illness.

The federally-funded grant will allow Odyssey House to hire a housing specialist to work exclusively with mentally ill residents in treatment for substance abuse problems at Odyssey House. Known as co-occurring disorders, these difficult-to-treat problems often lead to overall poorer functioning and increased risk of relapse, making it harder for individuals to both obtain and maintain housing. The housing specialist will help men and women diagnosed with mental health problems manage their transition from treatment into permanent housing, and thereby reduce the vicious cycle of relapse and homelessness.

The addition of housing placement assistance for this vulnerable treatment population is part of the Odyssey House continuum of care, an intensive program of services which includes: substance abuse treatment; mental health services; medical care; vocational educational services; outpatient services; and employment assistance.

Dr. Peter Provet, president of Odyssey House, underscored the importance of housing services in reducing the costly societal impact of substance abuse and mental illness. “Housing assistance for a mentally ill substance abuser is about more than keeping a roof over someone’s head – it’s also about giving a fragile person a chance at living an independent, dignified life. These extra resources go a long way in preventing individuals who have achieved a sustainable level of sobriety from losing the gains they made in treatment and ending up on the streets, in city shelters, or the criminal justice system.”

Wellness Self Management Techniques Workshop

Before mentally ill homeless residents leave treatment they will now participate in a Wellness Self Management Techniques Workshop. This series of hands-on sessions includes individual coaching in such real-life skills as budgeting, making rent payments on time, and grocery shopping. Teaching residents how to manage everyday tasks is a key component of the new initiative – preparing individuals with co-occurring disorders for the next step in independent living, finding and maintaining their own home.

Once a resident completes the workshop and demonstrates an ability to live independently, the housing specialist begins work on housing placement. This process involves helping residents find affordable apartments, accompanying them on interviews, and negotiating rental agreements. It also includes a six-month follow-up visit.

This grant supplements the federally-funded Pathways to Housing Initiative, an Odyssey House housing assistance service that extends the agency’s outreach into the shelter system, enrolls homeless persons with substance abuse problems into residential or outpatient substance abuse treatment, and provides assistance with housing placement.

Odyssey House Develops Pathways to Housing Initiative with $2 Million Grant from SAMHSA

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New Initiative Will Provide Treatment and Housing Services for Homeless People in Recovery from Substance Abuse

 

Odyssey House has been awarded a $2 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to develop its Pathways to Housing Initiative. This competitive, five-year, federal grant will allow Odyssey House to extend its outreach into the shelter system, enroll homeless persons with substance abuse problems (particularly single mothers with small children) into residential or outpatient substance abuse treatment, and provide assistance with housing placement.

Odyssey House developed the Pathways to Housing Initiative based on its experience of providing substance abuse services to homeless men, women, and families, and the agency’s success in helping individuals maintain their sobriety and create a stable home life by providing in-place supportive services that decrease relapse and improve the chances of long-term recovery.

“One of the most difficult transitions homeless substance abusers make is returning to independent living,” said Dr. Peter Provet, President of Odyssey House. “Odyssey House clients often have great difficulty finding appropriate low-cost housing and do not want to jeopardize their recovery by returning to the same environment that they lived in prior to treatment.”

New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) recognizes substance abuse as a significant problem among its homeless population. Approximately 22% or 1,833 adult shelter beds are designated as substance abuse beds. In 2003, 46% of Odyssey House residents expected to need housing after completing treatment, however only 24% of the graduates obtained housing.

“A major reason clients leave treatment before completion is their inability to obtain affordable housing,” Dr. Provet continued. “The combination of housing and ongoing treatment services made possible by the Pathways to Housing Initiative and our partnerships with DHS and other housing agencies, will improve client retention, recovery, and homeless recidivism rates. We expect that clients will remain in treatment longer if they can obtain practical assistance to locate affordable housing.”

Odyssey House has extensive experience in working with homeless populations. It operates several treatment and housing programs including:

• Odyssey Behavioral HealthCare Residence – substance abuse and mental health treatment services for 60 homeless individuals;

• Odyssey House Camp LaGuardia – substance abuse treatment and housing placement services for 150 single adult men living in New York City’s largest men’s shelter in Chester, New York;

• Odyssey House Haven – supportive, permanent housing for 63 homeless men and women with chronic medical and/or mental health problems; and

• 45 Shelter Plus Care apartments – transitional housing for residents re-entering society following completion of long-term treatment.

Odyssey House recognizes the importance of housing counselors to advocate on behalf of clients returning to the community. The counselors, supported by this award, will work with clients in treatment to secure appropriate housing including:

• coordinating entitlements and linking with community-based housing services for families and single adults;

• determining the amount of rent a family or individual can afford; and

• actively seeking apartments and subsidy programs that address client needs including utilizing available Odyssey House and other subsidized permanent housing units.