Affordable housing that provides on-site services for people who are homeless, have a mental illness, and other vulnerable populations could dramatically reduce the use and cost of expensive public services such as state prisons and mental health facilities, according to a new report released Thursday by the Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty (MAIP), the Supportive Housing Providers Association (SHPA), and the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH).

Supportive Housing in Illinois: A Wise Investment found that Illinois saw an overall 39 percent cost reduction in the use of public services, such as inpatient mental health care, nursing homes, and criminal justice, over a two-year period after a sample of 177 individuals were moved into supportive housing. The shrunken need for public services yielded a total overall cost savings of more than $850,000 – an average savings per resident of $2,400 per year.

Visit the Heartland Alliance website:

Download the full report: