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Exploring Community Integration Among Formerly Homeless Veterans in Project-Based Versus Tenant-Based Supportive Housing

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Abstract

Community integration—an individual’s embeddedness in his/her community—impacts mental and physical health. This study aimed to understand factors affecting community integration among Veterans in the Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with HUD-VASH staff (n = 14) and persons residing in project-based (n = 9) and tenant-based (n = 9) housing at VA Greater Los Angeles. Participants identified neighborhood safety concerns as a limitation to community integration. Participants were reluctant to connect with HUD-VASH peers living nearby because they wanted to focus on their own recovery (e.g., from substance use); and many were dissatisfied with the location of their apartments. Staff valued community integration but saw it as secondary to housing retention. Increased access to safe neighborhoods (e.g., through relationship building with landlords) and the addition of staff dedicated to improving community integration (e.g., peer-support specialists) would enhance community integration in the HUD-VASH program.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support was provided by Lynne Sagalyn and Gary Hack Department of Urban Studies and Planning Fund at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Greater Los Angeles Veteran Affairs Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP). Dr. Chinchilla was supported by the VA Office of Academic Affiliations through the Health Service Research and Development Post-Doctoral Fellowship. The contents do not represent the views of the US Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AltaMed Institute for Health Equity, 2040 Camfield Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90040, USA

    Melissa Chinchilla

  2. Department of Veteran Affairs Greater Los Angeles Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation, & Policy (CSHIIP), 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90073, USA

    Sonya Gabrielian

  3. Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Amy Glasmeier

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at University of California Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Sonya Gabrielian & Michael F. Green

  5. Department of Veterans Affairs VISN 22 Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90073, USA

    Sonya Gabrielian & Michael F. Green

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  1. Melissa Chinchilla
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Correspondence to Melissa Chinchilla.

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Chinchilla, M., Gabrielian, S., Glasmeier, A. et al. Exploring Community Integration Among Formerly Homeless Veterans in Project-Based Versus Tenant-Based Supportive Housing. Community Ment Health J 56, 303–312 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00473-x

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