Can philanthropy help decrease Medicaid spending, lower other public costs, and improve the health and lives of our most-vulnerable neighbors? The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) believes it can- and the solution is connecting health and housing.

Can philanthropy help decrease Medicaid spending, lower other public costs, and improve the health and lives of our most-vulnerable neighbors? The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) believes it can- and the solution is connecting health and housing.

We know there is a small subset of individuals who cycle between emergency rooms, hospitals, detox, and other crisis health services. Known as the 5:50 population (because they are the 5% of beneficiaries who represent 50% of total costs), these men and women have complex, co-occurring health conditions; limited support networks, and experience homelessness or persistent housing challenges. In a year, communities spend upwards of $60,000 per person in public resources on “Band-Aid” services that treat a patient’s symptoms without improving overall health status, since they fail to address the underlying problems that lead to poor health. But there is progress in reversing this phenomenon and communities are working to better initiate and integrate solutions that improve health, improve quality of life, and save public resources.

Examining the Intersection of Health, Housing, & Homelessness

Last week, CSH along with Funders Together to End Homelessness, Grantmakers in Health, and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations co-presented a webinar-_Health, Housing & Homelessness_- that helped participating funders examine the intersection between health and housing. We discussed the many different ways grantmakers can become involved in this movement, including:

• Fund initiatives that focus on the intersection between health and housing;
• Support local housing and service providers, increasing their capacity to align their programs and connect to health systems; and
• Take a leadership role in convening government and nonprofits, encouraging collaboration and dialogue between health and housing systems.

CSH is tackling all three of the above using the $2.3 million Social Innovation Fund grant we received from the Corporation for National and Community Service. CSH is targeting the highest-need people by developing cutting-edge models that build new kinds of partnerships between supportive housing providers and health services. The initiative will leverage the original Social Innovation Fund grant as well as a dollar-for-dollar match raised by CSH and an additional match raised by sub-grantees in four sites. This combination of public and private resources will launch and assess pilot programs that link supportive housing with care management and health services with the goal of creating an integrated model that improve lives while saving public funds.

CSH is looking for partners who are also excited about this new direction. Support has already been secured from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the Melville Charitable Trust. An open RFP process is currently underway to select the four sites around the country that will pilot these programs (sites will be announced March 1, 2012). There will be both national and local opportunities to support this initiative.

To learn more about the intersection of health, housing, and homeless and the Social Innovation Fund, check out the webinar audio recording and the presentation materials. You can also read more about CSH’s Social Innovation Fund.

Nancy McGraw is the Chief Development Officer at the Corporation for Supportive Housing.