The Open Door: Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness in the Era of Community Treatment [Hardcover]

The Open Doorprovides a comprehensive, carefully documented state of the science on homelessness and mental illness. The book reviews the effectiveness of service and housing interventions targeted at this constituency, and discusses efforts to bring evidence-based programs to scale.The Open Door: Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness in the Era of Community Treatmentexplains how and why homelessness among the mentally ill has persisted over the past 35 years, despite policy and program initiatives to end it. This ten-chapter book chronicles the unintended rise of homelessness in the wake of far-reaching post-World War II mental health care reforms, and highlights the key role of advocacy in spurring a governmental response to homelessness. The author provides a comprehensive, carefully documented state of the science on homelessness, reviews critical issues in managing severe mental illness in the community setting, and presents evidence of the effectiveness of service and housing interventions that have brought stability to the lives of many. Finally, the book reviews the role of homelessness prevention, a recovery orientation, and the promise of early treatment of psychotic disorders to facilitate greater social inclusion and community participation. In addition to providers of housing and services to the homeless mentally ill, this text will appeal to policymakers, mental health professionals, and students of public health and social sciences.AcknowledgmentsPrefaceChapter One: The Open Door: The Mental Health System TransformedChapter Two: Voluntarism and the Rise of AdvocacyChapter Three: Homeless People with Severe Mental IllnessChapter Four: Overcoming the Problem of Disengagement from TreatmentChapter Five: Mental Health Services Take to the StreetsChapter Six: From the Streets to HomesChapter Seven: Challenges to Bringing Housing to ScaleChapter Eight: National Initiatives to Ending HomelessnessChapter Nine: Can Homelessness Be Prevenló¾