This book provides a unique portrayal of Housing First as a 'paradigm shift' in homeless services. Since 1992, this approach has spread nationally and internationally, changing systems and reversing the usual continuum of care. The success of Housing First has few parallels in social and human services.

List of Abbreviations Preface Chapter 1. Paradigm Shifts and Systems Change: Understanding Housing First and its Impact Chapter 2. Homelessness in America: Truths and Consequences Chapter 3. Three Lineages of Homeless Services Chapter 4. Testing Housing First: An Innovation Gets its Evidence Base Chapter 5. Housing First From the Inside: Qualitative Research with Clients Chapter 6. In Their Own Words: Consumers Share Their Stories Chapter 7. Growth of HF in the United States: Challenges of Expansion and Fidelity Chapter 8. Housing First Internationally: Canada, Europe and Australia Chapter 9. New Beginnings CODA: Where Are They Now? References Index

"There is an important story to be told about the Pathways Housing First program in New York City. This extremely influential program provides lessons about systems change related to services for homeless people with serious mental illness. Particularly interesting is the uptake of Housing First across North America, Europe, and Australia. This engaging book is a 'must read' for those interested in how Housing First can transform housing and treatment services for people with mental illness." --Geoffrey Nelson, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University "Theory, evidence, and experience ground this compelling story of how Housing First has transformed services for persons who are homeless across many countries and contexts." --Paula Goering, PhD, RN, University of Toronto "This book is an excellent account of the historic breakthrough of the Housing First approach all over the [developed] world. It explains not only how, but also why Housing First has proven to be the adequate and most effective approach to end homelessness for people with complex support needs. The homes created by Housing First programs offer "ontological security" to the formerly homeless tenants, a term which has been fruitfully used by Deborah Padgett to mark the essential advantages of the Housing First approach. From the beginning the basis for constancy, daily routines, privacy and identity construction is provided, a stable platform for a less stigmatized and more normalized life." --Prof. Dr. Volker Busch-Geertsema, senior research fellow of GISS-institute, Bremen, Germany and coordinator of the European Observatory on Homelessness "This book provides a broad history and framing of homelessness in the United States in which the housing first idea was developed. This was especially helpful for me as I was late into the homeless arena with very little understanding of homelessness, homeless research, Federal funding for homeless programs, and various organizational approaches. Even though I had gained some understanding of homelessness the last ten years, this book pulled together a clearer picture of homelessness and the expansion of the housing first approach nationally and internationally." --Lloyd S. Pendleton, Former Director, Homeless Task Force, State of Utah "It is not often that social policy begets a compelling success story. But in this book, Padgett and her coauthors tell how the Housing First movement to end homelessness arose from the striking confluence in the voices of disadvantaged people seeking dignified housing choice, a human rights perspective among service providers, and research-based evidence. That combination of forces has driven an international effort to reshape the social response to homelessness, with resounding successes. The story told here sets out the challenge for homelessness efforts world-wide, and indeed the way social welfare policy should be shaped more broadly." --Dennis P. Culhane, PhD, Dana and Andrew Stone Chair of Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania

"There is an important story to be told about the Pathways Housing First program in New York City. This extremely influential program provides lessons about systems change related to services for homeless people with serious mental illness. Particularly interesting is the uptake of Housing First across North America, Europe, and Australia. This engaging book is a 'must read' for those interested in how Housing First can transform housing and treatment services for people with mental illness." --Geoffrey Nelson, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University "Theory, evidence, and experience ground this compelling story of how Housing First has transformed services for persons who are homeless across many countries and contexts." --Paula Goering, PhD, RN, University of Toronto "This book is an excellent account of the historic breakthrough of the Housing First approach all over the [developed] world. It explains not only how, but also why Housing First has proven to be the adequate and most effective approach to end homelessness for people with complex support needs. The homes created by Housing First programs offer "ontological security" to the formerly homeless tenants, a term which has been fruitfully used by Deborah Padgett to mark the essential advantages of the Housing First approach. From the beginning the basis for constancy, daily routines, privacy and identity construction is provided, a stable platform for a less stigmatized and more normalized life." --Prof. Dr. Volker Busch-Geertsema, senior research fellow of GISS-institute, Bremen, Germany and coordinator of the European Observatory on Homelessness "This book provides a broad history and framing of homelessness in the United States in which the housing first idea was developed. This was especially helpful for me as I was late into the homeless arena with very little understanding of homelessness, homeless research, Federal funding for homeless programs, and various organizational approaches. Even though I had gained some understanding of homelessness the last ten years, this book pulled together a clearer picture of homelessness and the expansion of the housing first approach nationally and internationally." --Lloyd S. Pendleton, Former Director, Homeless Task Force, State of Utah "It is not often that social policy begets a compelling success story. But in this book, Padgett and her coauthors tell how the Housing First movement to end homelessness arose from the striking confluence in the voices of disadvantaged people seeking dignified housing choice, a human rights perspective among service providers, and research-based evidence. That combination of forces has driven an international effort to reshape the social response to homelessness, with resounding successes. The story told here sets out the challenge for homelessness efforts world-wide, and indeed the way social welfare policy should be shaped more broadly." --Dennis P. Culhane, PhD, Dana and Andrew Stone Chair of Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania

Selling point: Unique story of the origin of Housing First amidst the 1980s 'epidemic' of homelessness in the U.S. and its subsequent adoption nationally and internationally Selling point: Features the insider knowledge of the founder of HF (Tsemberis) as well as co-authors with widely-read research on HF (Padgett and Henwood) Selling point: Sheds light on how systems resist and eventually adapt to change in the volatile climate of homeless services where resources are scare and competition is high Selling point: Includes an international perspective as HF is disseminated to Canada, Australia and Western Europe Selling point: Includes a number of different expert voices and perspectives including researcher, policy maker, provider, consumer and advocate Selling point: Both academic and readable/accessible to general audiences, summarizing quantitative and qualitative research findings Selling point: Features a chapter on individual stories of the lived experience of HF

Deborah Padgett is internationally recognized as a qualitative methodologist known for her research on homelessness, including two federally-funded studies of Housing First. The author/co-author of five books and numerous journal articles, Dr. Padgett has received awards for her teaching and mentoring and led the Society for Social Work and Research as President. Benjamin Henwood, PhD, MSW, is a recognized expert in mental health and housing services research whose work connects clinical interventions with social policy. His proposal to end homelessness has been adopted by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare as a grand challenge to orient the profession. Dr. Henwood is currently an assistant professor of social work at the University of Southern California. Sam Tsemberis, PhD, is the originator of Housing First. The breakthrough that led to the creation of this consumer-directed program came after making the shift to listening rather than directing consumers, believing in their capabilities, and enlisting their assistance in designing the program. Dr. Tsemberis is on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center and conducts research, lectures, and writes about these topics.

Selling point: Unique story of the origin of Housing First amidst the 1980s 'epidemic' of homelessness in the U.S. and its subsequent adoption nationally and internationally Selling point: Features the insider knowledge of the founder of HF (Tsemberis) as well as co-authors with widely-read research on HF (Padgett and Henwood) Selling point: Sheds light on how systems resist and eventually adapt to change in the volatile climate of homeless services where resources are scare and competition is high Selling point: Includes an international perspective as HF is disseminated to Canada, Australia and Western Europe Selling point: Includes a number of different expert voices and perspectives including researcher, policy maker, provider, consumer and advocate Selling point: Both academic and readable/accessible to general audiences, summarizing quantitative and qualitative research findings Selling point: Features a chapter on individual stories of the lived experience of HF