Population: Low Income

The First Statewide Supportive Housing Forum of Its Kind in Maryland

More than a conference, the first-of-kind 2026 Maryland Supportive Housing Forum hosted by CSH served as a space for connection, problem-solving, and shared commitment to ensuring vulnerable Marylanders have access to stable housing and supportive services. The Forum comes at a critical time, with more than 17,000 people in Maryland in need of stable housing while federal cuts to affordable housing and Medicaid threaten the resources that help people secure and maintain housing.  

Over two days, leaders representing supportive housing developers, service providers, healthcare partners, government agencies, advocates, philanthropic organizations, and community-based organizations came together to explore the policies, partnerships, and investments needed to strengthen supportive housing across Maryland. By bringing decision-makers together with practitioners and people with lived expertise, the Forum created opportunities for conversations that do not often happen across systems. Throughout the event, speakers reinforced a shared message: supportive housing is most effective when housing, healthcare, behavioral health, justice, and community partners work toward common goals. 

A recurring theme throughout the Forum was partnership. When attendees were asked what ideas from the event were still resonating with them, responses repeatedly highlighted system alignment, cross-department collaboration, data sharing, healthcare and housing partnerships, coordinated funding strategies, and stronger connections among providers, developers, and government agencies. 

Attendees responded enthusiastically to the Forum experience. One participant described the event as an “absolutely incredible convening,” while another noted it was “great to see so many leaders speaking at the forum.” Others highlighted the relevance of the content and the value of bringing together stakeholders from different sectors to learn from one another and identify new opportunities for collaboration. 

The Forum concluded with a discussion about the future of the Maryland Alliance for Supportive Housing (MASH), a growing coalition CSH is leading that is focused on strengthening supportive housing throughout the state. During an interactive session, attendees identified building partnerships as the alliance’s highest priority, followed by coordinating advocacy efforts and sharing knowledge across sectors. Participants ranked connecting people and organizations as the most important first step for MASH’s work and reported a strong readiness to contribute to ongoing coalition-building efforts.  

Participants also shared concrete actions they plan to take following the Forum, including strengthening local partnerships, engaging with state policy efforts, participating in MASH, advancing housing and healthcare collaborations, and bringing new stakeholders into supportive housing conversations. Across responses, a clear message emerged: people are ready to move from conversation to action.  

As attendees looked ahead to the future of supportive housing in Maryland, Councilwoman Odette Ramos offered a reminder of what is ultimately at stake: 

“If we can’t, as a society, provide the care and support to our veterans and those who need it most, we shouldn’t be here.” 

Thank You to Our Partners and Sponsors 

The Maryland Supportive Housing Forum would not have been possible without the support of our partners and sponsors. We extend our sincere gratitude to The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development for their generous support and partnership in helping bring this first-of-its-kind statewide convening to life. 

We also thank our sponsors for their commitment to advancing supportive housing across Maryland: Foliot Furniture, Southway Builders, Inc., Enterprise Community Partners, The Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund, Homes for America, LifeStyles, Inc., Jaydot, Blue Beacon Advisors, Amanda J. Harris Consulting, and Episcopal Housing Corporation. Their support and partnership helped create meaningful opportunities for learning, connection, and collaboration among leaders from across the state. 

As Maryland continues to expand and strengthen supportive housing opportunities, the relationships built and ideas generated during this year’s Forum provide a strong foundation for future collaboration. We are grateful to every speaker, sponsor, planning committee member, and attendee who contributed their time, expertise, and commitment to creating a Maryland where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Photography Credit: Rodney Brown 

This Crosswalk examines how Illinois Medicaid services align with the supportive housing services needed to help people experiencing homelessness, housing instability, and complex health needs achieve long-term housing stability. The report analyzes existing Medicaid authorities, highlights promising opportunities within Illinois’ new 1115 waiver Housing Supports benefit, identifies remaining service and funding gaps, and offers recommendations to better coordinate housing, healthcare, and supportive services. Designed for housing providers, healthcare partners, policymakers, and advocates, the Crosswalk outlines practical strategies to expand supportive housing capacity and improve outcomes for Illinois residents with the greatest needs.

CSH applauds Governor Whitmer and the state legislature for their continued bipartisan support of this funding, which has delivered measurable results, helping more than 1,800 individuals secure and maintain housing while accessing supportive services. 

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the FY27 state budget this week, which includes a $5 million investment in supportive housing services to help individuals and families achieve long-term housing stability. Administered by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the funding will enable supportive housing providers statewide to add capacity and provide intensive, person-centered services to residents. Supportive housing combines stable, affordable housing with services for people with disabilities and long histories of homelessness. It is a proven, accountable, and cost-effective approach to lasting stability.

This funding follows previous appropriations totaling $31 million for supportive housing services between FY2023 and FY2026. The impact of that investment is measurable, transparent, and already evident: 98% of residents served through this funding have remained stably housed, and 63% have maintained or increased their income. These results show that when people receive the help they need, they can break the cycle of homelessness, achieve better health outcomes, and reduce reliance on costly public systems. State lawmakers are making public investments that produce lasting stability while reducing reliance on more expensive emergency and crisis services.

CSH thanks state Senators Jeff Irwin, Sylvia Santana, and Sarah Anthony, state Representative John Roth, and House and Senate leadership for their continued bipartisan support for this impactful investment.

CSH is also grateful to all the individuals and organizations in the state who have advocated for supportive housing, in particular, Avalon Housing, Communities First, Faith in Action, Goodwill of Northern MI, ICCF Community Homes, and Room at the Inn, all of which hosted tours for legislators this year or provided committee testimony.

“Every dollar Michigan invests in supportive services goes toward something measurable: helping people obtain stable housing and build healthier, more secure futures,” said Catherine Distelrath, Michigan Director at CSH. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with state leaders, providers, and advocates to expand these measurable results across the state.

On June 19^th, just days before the 27th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C., the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo advancing an interpretation of the Olmstead decision that breaks from decades of established precedent. The memo questions whether the Olmstead decision requires states to serve people with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. As the DOJ acknowledged, the new interpretation is out of step with how federal courts have understood Olmstead since 1999.

CSH is deeply concerned about this departure. Defending and advancing Olmstead is central to our work. The core principle— that people with disabilities should be able to live, work, and thrive in the community of their choice — is the foundation of supportive housing. At its heart, Olmstead recognized that no one should be cut off from their families, friends, and people they love simply to receive the care they need.

Olmstead has shaped how states support people with disabilities for nearly three decades. Courts across the country have consistently affirmed its core principle: that unnecessary isolation is a form of discrimination. That principle has guided state investment and practice. It has moved systems toward community-based housing and services that help people achieve stability, health, and independence. 

This does not mean that treatment and housing are at odds. Some people, at some point in their lives, need intensive clinical care, including time-limited stays in hospitals or residential settings. A strong system includes that full continuum, but those settings work best as a bridge to stable community living, not a substitute for it. The choice is not between treatment and housing. Both are essential, and neither works in isolation.  

The harder truth is that legal standards are only part of what stands between a person and a life of their choosing in the community. America faces a severe shortage of affordable housing and wide gaps in access to care. Efforts to expand access to evidence-based treatment supports, particularly community-based models, would be more effective than focusing on compelling services that simply are not available. These realities do more than any legal interpretation to determine whether someone with any disability including serious mental illness stays housed or falls into homelessness. Without a stable home, too many people either languish in institutional care or leave institutional care only to cycle back through emergency rooms, shelters, and jails.

Our FUSE work had demonstrated for more than two decades that when communities prioritize intensive services with housing, even people with the most complex needs find stability and recovery while communities enjoy reduced homelessness and costs associated with institutionalization.

North Carolina shows what is possible and what it takes to ensure that people have freedom of choice and the opportunity to thrive. Before 2012, the state relied on large, segregated adult care homes to serve people with serious mental illnesses. Those conditions resemble what this memo would now treat as legally acceptable. The DOJ found that this reliance violated the ADA and Olmstead, and that the resulting agreement required the state to build supportive housing and community-based services.

Building that capacity took the state more than a decade, several extensions, and sustained public investment, and the work continues today. The work required new levels of cross-sector collaboration between the housing and health sector state and community leaders.  That investment has helped thousands of North Carolinians leave institutional settings for homes of their own.

The DOJ memo targets the very tool that drove progress. North Carolina’s problem was a shortage of housing and services. The legal expectation to integrate is what finally pushed the state to address the shortage. Removing that expectation, while the capacity gap remains, abandons people in the middle of a transition that is finally helping them.

Stepping back from community-based housing and services will push more people, and more cost, onto public systems. Institutional and crisis care is much more expensive than supportive housing, by many estimates more than three times as much per person. Without stable housing to exit to, that spending recirculates through repeated hospitalizations, law enforcement contacts, and time in jail, with little lasting stability to show for it.

The evidence of the last quarter century points in one direction. Supportive housing and community-based care improve health, strengthen communities, and reduce reliance on costly crisis systems. As policymakers and state leaders study this memo, the strongest path forward is to follow the evidence and build on community integration for people with disabilities by: expanding supportive housing, strengthening access to mental health and substance use care, and ensuring a full continuum of support that meets people where they are.

CSH remains committed to working with federal, state, and local partners so that every person has access to safe, stable housing and the support they need to thrive in the community.

Supportive housing combines affordable housing with supportive services to help people who face the most complex challenges live with stability, autonomy, and dignity. CSH created these standards to guide a wide range of groups—including tenant leaders, housing developers, landlords, service providers, funders, property managers, government officials, and health care organizations—to work together to build and operate high-quality supportive housing.

The Quality Standards apply to all types of projects, whether site-based or scattered-site, and in rural, suburban, or urban areas. How the standards are put into practice may vary due to the diversity of supportive housing models.

The Strong Families Fund is the largest pilot pay-for-performance project to finance Resident Service Coordination (RSC) in affordable housing for lower-income families. The initiative was created to measure the impact of resident service coordination on tenant and building performance within affordable housing. The performance-based contract approach helps to align all collaborating partners with a shared vision of success. This report reviews the results of the data collected through the first phase of the initiative. It demonstrates that using this performance-based approach to resident service coordination in affordable housing is a powerful way to increase economic mobility, health & well-being, housing stability, and community engagement and safety.

View the Executive Summary

CSH Calls for Balanced Policy That Protects Both Housing and Health Supports

The Senate’s passage of the reconciliation bill presents a deeply mixed outcome for the supportive housing field. While we acknowledge the inclusion of important housing provisions such as expanding and making permanent the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and the New Markets Tax Credit, we cannot overlook the harmful trade-offs embedded in this legislation.

These housing investments, while significant, are not sufficient to offset the damage caused by provisions that undermine access to essential healthcare and basic supports for people experiencing homelessness and housing instability. The bill imposes new barriers to Medicaid and nutrition assistance that will disproportionately impact individuals with complex health and housing needs. These are the very people supportive housing is designed to serve.

Supportive housing succeeds because it pairs affordable homes with the services that help people stay housed and maintain their health. When the government restricts access to those services, it weakens the entire model. Limiting state Medicaid funding tools, imposing burdensome recertification requirements, and expanding work requirements for vulnerable populations all threaten the stability and well-being of those we serve.

CSH remains committed to advancing effective policies that recognize the interconnectedness of housing, healthcare, and human services. We urge Congress to consider the full impact of this legislation, not just its housing investments, but also the barriers it creates for those most in need and the burdens it places on the communities in their districts. We will continue to work with partners across sectors to ensure that supportive housing remains a viable and effective solution to homelessness and housing insecurity.
 
Deborah De Santis
CSH President and CEO

This paper published with the generous support from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation shares critical information about the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) program and how it can boost ‘services’ in supportive housing. HCBS services help individuals live comfortably in their own homes, despite challenges commonly faced by people with disabilities and all of us as we age. HCBS will be an essential supplementary resource to help supportive housing tenants thrive in their community at all ages.

A Renters Guide for Successful Apartment Living

This guide is for anyone who will be renting an apartment for the first time. The information here is intended to make the transition to this new lifestyle easier. In this guide book you will find helpful tips on apartment living like housekeeping issues, keys to a successful relationship with your landlord and other resources.

A Resource for Housing and Homeless Programs Considering Options for Billing for Medicaid Eligible Services

This review of Medicaid models is designed to assist supportive housing providers and homeless service organizations consider strategies to enhance their services (and services funding) through partnerships or through securing new resources. Included are comprehensive overviews of three options: Becoming a Medicaid Billable Agency; Collaborating to Increase Services and Capacity; and Contracting with an Administrative Services Organization.

This material is based upon work supported by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) under Social Innovation Fund Grant No.16PSHNY002. Opinions or points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of, or a position that is endorsed by, CNCS.