Supportive Housing: Implications for its Efficacy as Intervention with Special Needs Low-income African Americans
Abstract
In this pilot study, the authors examine the efficacy of supportive housing, which combines affordable housing with social services, in helping low-income single mothers in substance abuse recovery with relapse prevention and acquiring life skills to improve their economic conditions. Study subjects were residents of Delowe Village Apartments, a supportive housing development in East Point, Georgia, who participated in Project GROW, an on-site program intended to help residents maintain sobriety and reduce their dependence on welfare. The authors hypothesize that the length of residency in supportive housing correlates to prolonged sobriety, improved functioning, and increased employment. Findings indicate a substantial relationship between participants’ length of residency and length of sobriety but a weak relationship between length of residency and improved employment. Although the findings fully support only one hypothesis, they suggest that the maintenance of sobriety among African American female heads of households is significantly related to supportive housing.