Most people would prefer to live independently and/or with family, rather than in supervised or institutional settings. At the heart of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) is its effort to help people succeed in integrated community living, making and keeping a home.
Hallmarks of Supportive Housing include housing that is integrated into the community, safe, in good repair, affordable, and where tenancy is unbundled from a service program (i.e., a person can elect not to receive services and still keep an apartment). ACT teams work with people to help them get and keep housing of their choice, and strive to ensure that this choice is an informed one, as many people have internalized messages that they are not capable of living on their own and benefit from substantial encouragement and support to challenge those beliefs. For people currently living in supervised settings, ACT actively works to help them move out. Although there are individual exceptions, ACT was not designed to overlay long-term supervised living.
With the exception of significant safety considerations, people do not have to prove themselves “ready” for independent housing. Following a “Housing First” model, ACT supports individuals in accessing housing first, then offers assistance and support to help them keep it. Psychiatric rehabilitation, which includes skill-building activities, is a large part of housing supports (see our Resource Page on Psychiatric Rehabilitation).
Some teams elect to have a housing specialist, who essentially becomes the team’s housing resource expert, gathering information about subsidy programs, low-income housing programs, tenancy laws, and landlord information. The entire team pitches in to help gather information about housing options.
Receiving services in the “least restrictive environment” is a right stemming from the Olmstead Decision.
Learn More about Supportive Housing and the Housing First model through these resources.