Housing FIRST v. supportive housing --- and the importance of voluntary supports

​We are strong believers in HOUSING FIRST and the moral urgency of it ---- BUT ---

• For many people with disabilities  --- it is not clear that HOUSING ALONE would prevent unnecessary institutionalization or the great risk of institutionalization inherent in homelessness.
• Additionally, while HOUSING FIRST is sometimes DEFINED by SERVICE PROVIDERS as HOUSING + SUPPORTS ---
  • ​That tends NOT to be the COMMON UNDERSTANDING.
  • When most people hear HOUSING FIRST --- they think JUST HOUSING.   
• So I think a request for SUPPORTIVE HOUSING will be CLEARER to Policymakers and the Community what we're asking for.
  • ​​And ultimately a COURT if necessary.
    

Further, the importance of primarily VOLUNTARY SUPPORTS, except under EXTREME CASES can't be overstated.

Most  PEOPLE  with NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL and/or PSYCHIATRIC Differences or Disorders WANT HELP.

It's NOT JUST that the PEOPLE with NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL and / or PSYCHIATRIC Differences or Disorders --- DON"T WANT the HELP that is being offered.

• The HELP that is being offered is sometimes NOT VERY HELPFUL.
• AND it is probably NOT WORTH what we're paying for it .
  • ​That's NOT always true, but it's more true than we realize.

A BIG PART of that is the relationship between NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS and PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS.

Those RIGID CATEGORIES in the DSM 5 are not withstanding the weight of current research ---- and it is becoming more and more obvious that these CATEGORIES are BLURRED and we're MISSING people.

If the NEEDS related to that often UNDERLYING NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCE or DISORDER --- which often involve SENSORY PROCESSING and EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES ---

• ​are not better understood or addressed --- we may be spinning our wheels or even making things worse.

Invisible People
Tour Shelter + Permanent Supportive Housing in Denver

• Further, the University of San Francisco Study found that HOUSING paired with VOLUNTARY SUPPORTS for even people experiencing some of the most significant impairment was successful.
• Especially when it comes to NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS and PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS --- a lot of the need is a result of needing to address EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING issues in MULTIPLE SPHERES OF LIFE in an ENVIRONMENT which individuals themselves and the community may be largely ignorant of the different needs of  NEURO-DIVERSE PEOPLE.
  • ​Further, that IGNORANCE is leading to a quite UNCONSCIOUS HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT for people with Neuro-Developmental Disorders across a BLURRED SPECTRUM of AUTISM and ADHD.  ​

Further, that UNCONSCIOUS HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT is putting UNHEALTHY PRESSURE and UNWITTING DISCRIMINATION on people who are quite vulnerable to PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS.

• ​The answer is NOT to put people who are NEURO-DIVERSE in a BUBBLE ---
• It's to develop those STRENGTHS which tend be SUBJECT MATTER or ARTISTIC STRENGTHS that serve as OUTLET for an enormous SENSORY PROCESSING LOAD.
• And make REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS for those Executive Functioning issues ---
  • but as the NEURODIVERGENT REBEL pointed out --- it's people (and service providers, friends and family working together ) to better DEFINE what they NEED in terms of specifics to address ACCOMMODATIONS / WORK AROUNDS for Executive Functioning Differences / Deficits.
  • Right now the "BOUNDARIES" of NEURO-DIVERSE PEOPLE are running head long into the "BOUNDARIES"  of NEURO-TYPICAL PEOPLE (and for that matter other NEURO-DIVERSE PEOPLE) and we need to "CONSCIOUSLY" address that.