Targeted Transitional Support Program

• Service Description
• Why do we fund it?
• Whom does it serve?
• What are the outcomes?
• What evidence is available to support the service?
• Contact Information

Service Description
The Targeted Transitional Support program assists persons awaiting discharge from RMHIs by enabling them to move into community settings with temporary transitional support. These are persons who otherwise would need to stay in the Institute because they do not have the resources necessary to begin their life outside the institute.

TDMHDD contracts with community agencies in each service area that then work with the institutes to identify individuals eligible for the program.

Why do we fund it?
There are many individuals who are in one of the five Institutes because they do not have financial resources for support services that would enable them to live in the community. Moving these individuals to appropriate, less restrictive and integrated settings is considered optimal for the consumers and a cost savings for the state.

Whom does it serve?
The program serves adults who are:

• diagnosed with mental illness and co-occurring disorders,
• patients of one of the five RMHIs, and
• lack the financial resources to pay for independent living or mental health services.

What are the outcomes?
The program reduces the likelihood of hospitalization and the use of acute care, increases community tenure and the likelihood of employment, ensures that consumers receive the needed services in order to successfully integrate into the community, improves the quality of life, and reduces the reliance upon more costly services. The program assisted 598 individuals discharged from RMHIs in a timely fashion in 2004. Eighty-three percent of the expended dollars was for housing assistance. The Priced Out in 2002 (Technical Assistance Collaborative) reported that people with disabilities were priced out of every housing market area in the United States. People with disabilities continue to be the poorest people in the nation. As a national average, SSI benefits in 2002 were equal to only 18.8 percent of the one person median household income. Eligibility for this program is for persons without a source of income, including SSI benefits. The program assisted 558 individuals to be discharged from RMHIs in a timely fashion that otherwise would have had longer stays in the Institute incurring significant cost to the state. Additionally, this program prevents consumers from being discharged with no service plan including housing.

Is there research, evidence-based practice, best practice, or literature to support Housing Services?
Click here to view the Housing Services Program Description.