Stabilizing Homeless Adults in Crisis: Public Costs for Homeless Clients of San Francisco’s Collaborative Courts
December 1, 2012 / By Daniel Flaming and Patrick Burns / the Corporation for Supportive Housing - Bay Area Office
This study extrapolates data about public costs for homelessness in Los Angeles County to clients of three San Francisco Collaborative Courts: Drug Court, Community Justice Center (CJC) and Behavioral Health Court. This information identifies the probable level of engagement by health care providers, public assistance agencies and the jail system in providing services to different cohorts of court clients that are experiencing homelessness. For clients with the most acute problems, who have recurrent encounters with hospitals and jails, information about high public costs associated with homelessness can point the way toward cost-effective investments in housing and supportive services that reduce net public outlays.