Transitional Housing
Definition and Overview
- Transitional Housing provides temporary housing and a specific package of tailored supportive services to households experiencing homelessness who have previously identified and acknowledged barriers to housing stability. Transitional Housing can be an intermediate step between Emergency Shelter and permanent housing. Transitional Housing is typically longer-term, more service-intensive, and more private than Emergency Shelters, yet typically remains time-limited to stays of three months to three years.
- Transitional Housing typically occurs at a single site, where supportive services are offered. Therefore, supportive services and property management in Transitional Housing are typically indistinct. Program participants have a signed lease, sublease, or occupancy agreement with the following requirements: (i) an initial term of at least one month, (ii) automatically renewable upon expiration, except by prior notice by either party, and (iii) a maximum term (typically 24 - 36 months, but may vary based on funding source).
- Tenancy in Transitional Housing should be directed through participant choice and the services provided should be based on the self-identified need. Therefore, Transitional Housing can be dictated through service compliance: under some Transitional Housing models, those who do not participate in programming, comply with rules, or engage in certain behaviors may be asked to leave or will be screened out. Because of this ability to limit access to those who can comply with service requirements, Transitional Housing providers often serve limited populations, such as those fleeing from domestic violence or those who want to address substance use through sober living.
- The goal of Transitional Housing is interim stability and support intended to overcome discrete barriers to maintaining independent permanent housing, as identified by the resident. It is meant to provide a safe, supportive environment where residents can overcome trauma, address the issues that led to homelessness or keep them homeless, and build their support network, while working to address those barriers. Services and program design should be tailored to address specific barriers and should be justified to show how they can assist program participants to achieve self-sufficiency based on the identified barrier to permanent housing.
- Staffing best practices include a target staff-to-participant ratio of no less than one case manager to every 15 households (i.e., a 1:15 case management ratio). Staffing best practices include operating a robust peer program that complements case management and housing staff. As with all programs, staffing structure and model should center lived experiences of homelessness and related systems. Transitional Housing programs may consider hiring nurses, clinicians, and other clinical or specialty professionals, but only if the program cannot secure the staffing through existing medical programs or partnerships as these positions can often be funded through Medicaid or other insurance or services funding.
Target Population
- Transitional Housing should be targeted to individuals and families who want to address a specific barrier to housing through temporary services that will create long-term housing stability. In general, these programs are not provided for a general population such as low-income or homeless households, but are instead targeted to those who have an identifiable barrier to self-sufficiency that can be meaningfully overcome within 24 - 36 months.
- Services can be targeted to specific sub-populations including but not limited to those fleeing domestic violence, those with substance use disorders, those with justice involvement, veterans, young adults, seniors, single-parent households, or families with children.
- Those residing in Transitional Housing are generally considered to be experiencing homelessness. However, depending on the funding source and the household’s specific circumstances, residing in Transitional Housing may constitute a break in homelessness when determining chronic homelessness status.
Program Parameters
Supportive Services
- Essential services: Efforts for supportive services targeted at alleviating identified barriers for residents who chose to focus on these structured programs. Services may include (i) housing search and placement and navigation, such as activities to assist guests to locate and obtain housing; (ii) housing stability case management, such as assessing, coordinating, and delivering individualized services to obtain housing, developing case management plans, and support groups; (iii) legal services necessary to resolve a legal problem that prohibits the participant from obtaining permanent housing; (iv) services for physical health care, mental health care, behavioral health care, and other medical care; and (v) other reasonable and necessary costs that help resolve a household’s homelessness and achieve personal goals, including but not limited to child care, transportation, parenting education and interventions, home management and life skills training, and others.
Operations
- Operations: Efforts related to maintenance (including minor or routine repairs), rent, security, fuel, equipment, insurance, utilities, food, furnishings, and supplies necessary for the operation of the facility.
- Grant Activities: Efforts focused on administering a specific grant or funding source may improve effective operations, as well as effective program implementation. Such efforts include planning and executing program activities, such as (i) general program or grant management, oversight, coordination, monitoring, and evaluation; (ii) salaries, wages, and related costs related to preparing program budgets; developing systems for ensuring compliance with grant requirements; developing interagency agreements; and preparing reports and other required documents or activities; (iii) accounting or other services; and (iv) other reasonable and necessary goods and services required to implement the grant program, such as evaluating program results against stated objectives, occupancy costs, and training on program requirements.
Educational, Vocational, and Work-Based Learning Opportunities
- Educational, vocational, and work-based learning opportunities: Efforts to deliver educational, vocational, and work-based learning opportunities within Transitional Housing that resolve the household’s homelessness as quickly as possible. A best practice is for Transitional Housing programs to use funds to create or connect to peer mentoring programs and hire peer mentors with lived expertise of homelessness to work in the facility and contribute to program design or improvement that are not able to be funded by other sources.
Recovery Care and Related Residential Programs
- Recovery care and related residential programs: Efforts to provide recovery care and residential programs within the Transitional Housing, including (i) treatment and support services; (ii) primary prevention; (iii) recovery support services and facilitation; (iv) outreach, engagement, pre-treatment, screening, and assessment; (v) detoxification; (vi) substance use education, treatment, and relapse prevention; (vii) medical, dental, and other health care services; (viii) specialized assessment, monitoring, and referrals for education, peer support, therapeutic interventions and physical safety; (ix) mental health care that includes a trauma-informed system of assessments and interventions; (x) mental health promotion and assessment; (xi) education, testing, counseling, and treatment; (xii) the cost of transportation to those services, if needed; and (xiii) other reasonable and necessary costs related to carrying out the recovery care and/or residential program.
Expected Outcomes
Outcomes typically focus on permanent housing outcomes, including exits to permanent housing and housing retention. Other outcomes typically relate to overcoming barriers to housing; increased income or benefits acquisition; and other individual or program goals, such as employment goals.