In advancement of our mission to provide lasting solutions to homelessness, CCH operates over 2,400 units of affordable, transitional, and/or supportive housing through 23 properties throughout the state, and on any given night, is responsible for housing over 4,400 households. Building on these successes, the Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond Initiative (SIB) implemented in Denver in 2016 provided targeted interventions to people experiencing who were frequent users of emergency systems such as emergency rooms, emergency shelter, jails and prisons, detox centers, and hospital emergency rooms.  

Social Impact Bonds are a unique type of performance-based contract where private and/or philanthropic lenders loan funds to accomplish a specific objective and are repaid based on whether the program achieves its goals. Denver’s Social Impact Bond program will use funds from lenders to provide housing and supportive case management services to at least 250 homeless individuals who frequently use the city’s emergency services, including police, jail, the courts, and emergency rooms. 

The Urban Institute, with partners from The Evaluation Center at the University of Colorado Denver, tracked implementation of the Denver SIB and evaluated its effects through a randomized controlled trial between 2016 and 2020. This study was one of the most rigorous evaluations of how supportive housing affects people’s interactions with the criminal justice system and emergency health services, and it adds to the extensive evidence base that demonstrates supportive housing, through a Housing First approach, ends chronic homelessness. The study shows that by offering housing and the right supports, this type of preventive investment can help people find stability while reducing the public costs of the homelessness-jail cycle. 

KEY FINDINGS FOR PARTICIPANTS: 

• Denver SIB supportive housing program participants spent significantly more time in housing than those in the control group, as measured by housing assistance. Those referred to SIB supportive housing received 560 more days of housing assistance over three years, compared with those who received services as usual in the community. 

•  After accessing supportive housing, most participants stayed housed over the long term. Excluding those who died during the observation period, 86 percent of participants remained in stable housing one year after entering housing. At two years, the housing retention rate for living participants was 81 percent. At year 3, the rate was 77 percent.  

• Shelter stays for Denver SIB supportive housing program participants decreased dramatically. When counting all instances of shelter use—including during the day and at night—over a three-year period, those referred to supportive housing had 127 fewer shelter visits compared with their peers in the control group. This represents a 40 percent reduction in shelter stays because of supportive housing.  

• Police interactions went down. People referred to supportive housing experienced eight fewer police contacts and four fewer arrests than those who received usual services in the community. This represents a 34 percent reduction in police contacts and a 40 percent reduction in arrests.  

• The reductions in jail stays and jail days were notable. In the three years after randomization, participants referred for supportive housing had almost two fewer jail stays and spent an average of 38 fewer days in jail than those who received usual care in the community. This represents a 30 percent reduction in unique jail stays and a 27 percent reduction in total jail days.  

• Denver SIB supportive housing program participants used short-term or city-funded detoxification services less often than those in the control group 

KEY FINDINGS RE: COST SAVINGS: 

The City of Denver paid more than $15,000 a year in jail, courts, shelters, police, and other public safety costs related to each person experiencing homelessness and frequent arrests before they entered the program. For SIB participants in supportive housing, these costs decreased across the board such that half of the city’s costs of SIB supportive services were offset by reductions in other local costs 

 

According to the Urban Institute: “Not only did the Denver SIB achieve better outcomes for people, it proved to be a better use of taxpayer dollars than the status quo of the homelessness-jail cycle. The costs borne by various public funders were substantially offset by reductions in costs associated with the negative outcomes avoided by participants in the supportive housing program. Based on the evidence from the Denver SIB, scaling up supportive housing would require an increase in funding at multiple levels of government, but it would maximize the return on investment of public dollars and help end the homelessness-jail cycle.” Read more.  

PROGRAM LINKS:

SIB Final Report – Urban Institute 

SIB Final Report – One Pager, Urban Institute