Mental Health and Substance Abuse
A lot of us aren’t homeless by choice, you know. [It's] because you are physically disabled or because you are suffering from a mental illness and you are not getting the medical treatment. – Constance J., SOME Client
Untreated mental illness and substance abuse increase the chances that individuals will become and remain homeless. According to the latest figures:
- 71% of homeless individuals and 53% of those in families suffer from mental illness or substance abuse.
- 40% of homeless people living on D.C. streets are both addicted to drugs and mentally ill.
Mental illness and substance abuse have significant long-term impacts on children and families. In addition to homelessness, drug abuse alone accounts for 85% of foster care cases and half of all domestic violence cases in D.C. It is also linked to a third of new HIV/AIDS cases.
In 2003, the District completed a citywide substance abuse strategy. A major goal of the strategy is to reduce the number of D.C. residents addicted to alcohol and/or illegal drugs from an estimated 60,000 to 25,000 by 2010. Only 7,000 people received services in Fiscal Year 2007.
As part of our continuum of care, SOME provides homeless and low-income individuals with a range of behavioral health services, including mental health and substance abuse counseling, intensive substance abuse treatment, transitional housing and support, a psychiatric crisis stabilization program, and a day program for homeless people with mental illnesses.
SOME is advocating for:
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Increased funding to subsidize rental costs for individuals with mental illnesses. The District provides subsidies to private landlords that agree to rent to tenants with mental illnesses and meet other standards. The subsidy program has not received any additional funding in many years, despite a 600-person waiting list. Without housing, individuals with mental illnesses are more vulnerable to homelessness and to psychiatric and other medical crises because of the lack of stability.
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Expansion of the D.C. Healthcare Alliance to cover mental health services. Approximately 46,000 homeless and other low-income District residents depend on the D.C. Healthcare Alliance to cover the costs of essential health care. Although they can receive mental health services through facilities funded by the Department of Mental Health, many are unlikely to seek out these services due to cultural and other barriers. They can, however, be reached and effectively treated at the health center where they receive primary care. Nonprofits, like SOME, provide more than $1.3 million per year in free, unreimbursed mental health care. They cannot meet existing and future needs without reimbursement for their costs.
These increased expenditures will be more than offset by savings in other areas, including emergency treatment, institutionalization, and law enforcement. The District has estimated the social costs of alcohol and drug abuse at more than $1.2 billion.
Resources
Facts & Figures
Recent SOME Testimony
Additional Resources
