Success of housing program prompts calls for expansion

Anti-poverty advocates are looking to expand a housing initiative statewide after it placed nearly 700 high-need homeless people in homes in Greater Boston for more than a year.

The so-called Pay for Success Initiative put 656 chronically homeless people, or those who have been on the streets for at least a year, into housing and 92 percent of people stayed after one year. The program doesn’t require people to stay sober or resolve other issues before getting housing, but includes resources and services to help them stay in homes.

The program, launched in June 2015, is a partnership comprising the state, the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Santander Bank, N.A. and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley that aims to house up to 800 chronically homeless individuals by 2019. Under the program, the philanthropic groups paid upfront for the services and the state reimbursed them after it was proven to be successful. The program has cut back on the amount of emergency room and hospital visits, saving the state about $2.2 million, advocates said.

“It is working,” said Michael Durkin, president of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. “There are still 700 to 800 individuals who are deemed to be chronically homeless. We want to take this model and see if we can help the remaining people. We believe we got a good footprint throughout the state to be able to deal with this effectively. We need to continue to push for collaboration and coordination. We need to raise more funds to make sure there is adequate physical housing stock.”

“We’re trying to advocate further for more housing,” agreed Joe Finn, president and executive director of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance. “With the state of housing affordability, it makes it difficult for the population we serve.”