Cuyahoga CSAT
Comprehensive
Substance Abuse Treatment

Helping homeless women with substance-use disorders achieve recovery, housing, health, and income. A SAMHSA-funded collaborative project in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, U.S.A.

Who the project serves.

What the project does.

Project partners.

Project milestones.

Cuyahoga CSAT brings empirically-tested, culturally-competent interventions to persistently homeless women of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, who have substance use disorders.  The project began in October 2004, and serves homeless women from the Community Women's Shelter of Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons, Inc. (MHS).

Participants get comprehensive services addressing their mental health, substance abuse, primary health, housing, and supportive service needs. Services are responsive to their culture, preferences, and life experiences. The project design grew from discussions with homeless women staying at the Shelter, who emphasized the difficulty of keeping appointments for office-bound services because of the lack of money for transportation, and the competing demands on their time to secure food and shelter.

Project Partners

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Board of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, U.S.A., is the project leader, and directs the implementation of project activities. The Board leads the county's strategic initiatives in substance abuse treatment and prevention. It develops, funds, and monitors a network of 45 agencies that operate more than 100 targeted treatment and prevention programs. Two community healthcare organizations provide treatment and supportive services.

Recovery Resources is an experienced, certified provider of both mental health and substance use treatment services. Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons, Inc. (MHS) is an experienced provider of homeless outreach, shelter, treatment, and supportive services, and an Ohio-certified community mental health center. The Institute for Health and Social Policy of the University of Akron conducts the project evaluation.

Project Funding

Funding for project activities is from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through grant number TI 16543. The Community Women's Shelter is funded by the citizens of Cuyahoga County, through the Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board supported project development.