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Number & Characteristics
of MHS Clients
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MHS provided services for 11,242 adults, and 2,331 children during the 2007 fiscal year that ended 30 June 2007. This represents an increase of 3% from the total number of clients served during the 2006 fiscal year. The number of homeless persons served increased 17% from the prior year, largely because of the huge increase in the number of persons served by our outreach teams, but also because two, new permanent housing programs started during the 2007 fiscal year.
Homeless assistance programs serve homeless adults who have a severe mental disability. Outreach programs and the Community Women’s Shelter also serve those with other disabling conditions. The most frequent psychiatric disorders among those who participate in our homeless assistance programs are schizophrenic disorders, and substance-use disorders. Many homeless clients have a chronic physical illness, such as diabetes. Sixty three percent are male, 64% are African-American, and the average age is 33 years. Homeless clients are further described in a section below.
Crisis programs, such as the MHS Mobile Crisis Team, serve children and adults who are experiencing a psychiatric crisis, or children who have been traumatized by violent events. Clients of crisis programs have demographic and diagnostic characteristics that are much more heterogeneous than those of homeless clients.
Information about the number, age, sex, and race of clients, by program, is presented in the table below for the most recently completed fiscal year. Then, a table of the number of clients served during the last four fiscal years is presented. You will also find links for outcomes, definitions of homelessness and severe mental disability, and local counts of homeless persons in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
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Clients of MHS Homeless Assistance Programs.
Most homeless individuals who participate in MHS psychiatric and supportive services have a severe mental disorder -- most often, a schizophrenic, schizoaffective, or bipolar disorder -- that results in profound cognitive and functional impairments. Most of those affected do not seek healthcare and supportive services, and must be identified by outreach efforts.
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Their untreated disorders can lead to hallucinatory experiences, illogical thinking, delusional beliefs, social misperceptions, and grossly disorganized conduct. More than half of the homeless clients who participate in services use alcohol or drugs, further compounding these disturbances. Unable to negotiate basic social transactions, attempts to work fail. Unable to organize thought and conduct, efforts to find help are ineffective. Lengthy or repeated homelessness is often the end result, especially among those with no family or social support.
Disorganized conduct sometimes accompanies severe mental disorders that are untreated. This conduct often leads to repeated involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations or incarcerations. After discharge to the community, many of those who lack supportive influences do not continue treatment, in part because it is difficult to obtain treatment while homeless. Being homeless requires spending a good part of each day walking from one meal site to another, and then securing a shelter bed or a safe place to sleep at night. These demands do not leave much time to make scheduled appointments during traditional Monday through Friday 9 to 5 working hours, especially since most offices where treatment can be obtained are not located near meal sites or shelters.
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Intense social discomfort is a feature of some mental disorders. Those affected are often socially isolated even from other homeless persons. Many prefer to sleep alone on the streets rather than confront the social demands of negotiating a space in a shelter. Those with mental disorders also contend with the stigma of having a mental illness. Many also have a history of arrests or convictions for crimes ranging from trespassing and vagrancy, to major felonies. Their criminal history, even if quite remote, makes them ineligible for some forms of housing support.
MHS provides assertive outreach, emergency shelter, transitional housing, and comprehensive clinical and supportive services. These services help clients to achieve safe and permanent housing, and to learn the skills needed to recover from their mental disorder and live with independence and dignity. We respect the choices and perceived needs of our clients, and encourage participation of the person's natural support system. We strive to offer services that are responsive to clients' ethnic characteristics and cultural beliefs, and that support our clients' freedom to choose among alternative interventions, while acknowledging a responsibility to protect the safety of our clients and community.
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Clients whose photographs appear in materials distributed by MHS have provided written, informed consent for this use. The images here are from "Tell Them Who I Am," a documentary of MHS outreach and case management services for homeless clients. Produced by Dennis Goulden, an award-winning producer and writer, the work was funded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Woodruff Foundation. It vividly depicts the plight of those who are homeless and mentally ill, and effectively portrays the value of MHS care and services.
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Outcomes of Care
To examine the remarkable outcomes achieved by clients who have participated in MHS Homeless Assistance programs, click here.
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How many are homeless
in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA?
Click here for recent counts and estimates.
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Copyright ©
Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons, Inc. (MHS)
1744 Payne Avenue; Cleveland, Ohio 44114 U.S.A.
216-623-6555 - TTY/TDD: 216-623-6540
The URL of this page is
http://www.mhs-inc.org/Fy2003b.asp
It was most recently updated on 25 September 2007.
We welcome your comments.
Please write to Joel[at]mhs-inc.org
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