07/17/2015

Working With Aging Tenants In Supportive Housing: Connecticut Providers

It’s a fact none of us can escape and we’re told we should embrace: we all grow older. But when you’re facing homelessness, aging becomes a much harder reality and often adds significantly to the challenges of surviving on the streets every day.

According to the National Coalition for the Homeless (2009): “Definitions of aged status in the homeless vary from study to study. However, there is a growing consensus that persons aged 50 and over should be included in the 'older homeless' category. Homeless persons aged 50-65 frequently fall between the cracks of governmental safety nets: while not technically old enough to qualify for Medicare, their physical health, assaulted by poor nutrition and severe living conditions, may resemble that of a 70-year-old.”

Compared to the general population, residents in supportive housing who are aging in place also have issues we must consider such as facility accommodations and changing service needs.

As a result of the extensive work of the Connecticut Supportive Housing Quality Initiative Supervisors’ Learning Collaborative – and with the support of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Housing Innovations and CSH – a comprehensive guidance document has been developed to assist providers: Working With Aging Tenants In Supportive Housing: Connecticut Providers.

While this document was developed specifically for and by supportive housing providers in Connecticut, it can be adapted for other states or communities. This guidance document provides the following resources developed to assist supportive housing providers deliver optimal services to aging supportive housing tenants and older persons entering supportive housing in Connecticut:

  • Checklist: Agency Competencies for Working With Aging Tenants in Supportive Housing
  • Resource Guide for Agencies Working With Aging Tenants in Supportive Housing
  • Resource Template for Agencies Working With Aging Tenants in Supportive Housing
  • Training Framework for Direct Care Staff Working With Aging Tenants in Supportive Housing 
  • Checklist: When Someone Dies in DMHAS-funded Supportive Housing in Connecticut 
  • Job description for Direct Care Staff Working With Aging Tenants in Supportive Housing

CSH is available to help you with your questions and training needs related to this document and tenants aging in supportive housing. Please contact us at info@csh.org 

Access the full guidance document here.

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