Supportive housing comes out of the movement to end homelessness among adults with serious mental illness and drug addiction. The Denver Housing to Health Pay for Success project is designed to understand how supportive housing interrupts the cycle of homelessness, jail, and emergency health services and to estimate the impact on health care use and associated costs, including patterns of primary care, avoidable emergency and hospital care, and substance use treatment.

The project will provide supportive housing for 125 individuals at the intersection of multiple public systems. The target population includes those who are experiencing homelessness; have a record of at least eight arrests, at least three of which are marked as transient, over three years in Denver County; have a recent Denver Police Department contact; and are at high risk for avoidable and high-cost health services paid through Medicaid, including services received at Denver Health and Hospital Authority.

The project is an extension of the Denver Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond Initiative, a supportive housing program designed to serve a population experiencing homelessness that frequently cycles in and out of jail. This report details the independent evaluation designed by the Urban Institute to determine whether the program achieves the outcome targets.