Abstract
The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) arranges supportive housing for homeless clients and uses Special Homeless Initiative dollars for services that help tenants retain their housing. This study tracked housing histories for over 600 DMH clients in the Boston area and found that housing plus supportive services keeps people housed, and reduces hospital days per housed tenant from 102 in the two years before housing to 7 in the two years after housing, lowering hospitalization costs about $20,000 per year per housed client. Tables.