Consumers' Motivations for Leaving Permanent Supportive Housing through a Moving on Initiative

Background and Purpose: With over half a million people found to be homeless in the US according to the most recent point-in-time count, ending homelessness remains a daunting task for the federal government and is now considered a “grand challenge” for the field of social work. Permanent supportive housing (PSH), a combination of subsidized housing and support services, is an evidence-based practice used to end homelessness for individuals who experience barriers to housing stability. However, the demand for supportive units greatly outstrips the supply and not every PSH resident will need intensive supports for life. For these reasons Moving On initiatives (MOIs) are now being piloted across the US to assist willing and able PSH residents to move into affordable housing independent of services opening up PSH units for those in need. These pilot programs employ various combinations of transitional supports and housing subsidies to accomplish these aims. However, best practices for this model have yet to be developed and little is known about the implementation and outcomes of MOIs. This qualitative study explores MOI consumers’ motivations for leaving PSH through a MOI and their expectations for the transition in order to better understand how MOIs can be adapted to meet consumer needs. Methods: This qualitative study is part of a larger longitudinal study that follows 125 MOI recipients over two years as they transition from PSH to mainstream housing. A purposive sample of 33 MOI recipients across four PSH agencies were recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews prior to their exit from services. Participants were asked prospective questions about their upcoming transition and the reasons they had chosen to leave PSH. Boyatzis’ (1998) thematic analysis was used to identify themes across these data. Results: Thematic findings included: 1) The desire for greater social and community integration – Participants viewed the move from PSH into mainstream housing as a way to be closer to family, siblings, children, and people of a similar cultural background; 2) MOI as an opportunity to exit “the system” – Participants talked about being “stuck in the system” and saw the MOI as a potential exit door from social services. Others questioned whether the MOI would get them any further from the service system as barriers to independence (e.g. mental illness, substance abuse, poverty) were still likely to be present; 3) Increasing safety – MOI recipients expressed a desire to leave PSH because of the difficulties they faced maintaining sobriety and staying away from bad influences while in PSH; and 4) The need for freedom – Participants viewed the move out of PSH as a way to increase one’s independence and free oneself from the watchful eye of service providers. Conclusions and Implications: MOIs are a promising new approach for addressing the grand challenge of ending homelessness. Consumers’ expectations for life after PSH set a high bar for MOI and echo the goals of the larger recovery movement (i.e. integration, choice, and independence). Future research is needed in order to assess whether and how MOI recipients achieve these goals post-PSH.