Substance Use Disorder, Homelessness, and Mental Health in Kansas City
Where there is help, there is hope. First responders, hospitals, and nonprofits are rethinking their approach to helping those experiencing substance use disorder, homelessness, and mental health issues. Numbers prove residential facilities, like Benilde Hall, not only save healthcare resources and costs, but also result in better outcomes for those needing treatment and help, not to mention the community as a whole.
About Benilde Hall
In recovery, a “sense of community” must be established for the therapeutic process to continue, and sometimes even begin. Benilde Hall extends our continuum of care of services for clients affected by substance abuse, homelessness, and mental health by creating feelings of belonging and connectedness. In a “ripple effect,” we keep clients engaged in the therapeutic process as they become role models for the benefit of the whole community.
By providing services for treating substance use, mental health, and homelessness, individuals may return to the community as responsible, employed and permanently housed contributing members of society.
FACTS
· Opened in 1993
· Substance use disorder treatment
· On-site psychological services
· Case management
· Capacity to house 108
· 53 beds designated for veterans
· Individualized treatment plans
· RN on staff
· 12-unit permanent housing available for those who successfully complete program
· Work program: lawn, snow removal and house painting services
· Employment counseling
· Financial and independent living skills
· Recreation activities
· Legal advocacy and referrals
· Transportation
· Spirituality
· Referrals to community self-help groups
409 CLIENTS SERVED IN 2021
· 376 were abstinent from drugs
· 404 were housed
· 309 gained income
· 286 were successfully discharged from the program
Veteran Homelessness Statistics
- On a single night in January 2020, 37,252 veterans were experiencing homelessness 1
- Estimates for 2022 are close to 40,000 homeless veterans in the US
- Veterans make up about 6 percent of the population of the United States but 8 percent of the country’s homeless population
VETERAN CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
Benilde Hall offers a transitional housing program with the goal to provide supportive housing and help homeless veterans achieve residential stability. Services include skill building that will help hone skills to better prepare our veterans for a successful, independent lifestyle.
The Veteran Capital Campaign expansion will add 8 single rooms with a private bathroom for veterans in the Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program.
In 2021 2
- 78 veterans served with emergency housing and the GPD program
- 57 of the 78 (73%) successfully completed the program
- Average stay: 70 days/nights
SAFE HAVEN FOR VETERANS
One of 24 Safe Haven programs in the US providing immediate housing for individuals who qualify for VA housing referrals. Clients can stay for up to 6 months.
In 2021
- 77 clients housed
- 5,622 bed nights
- 46 (60%) of those clients became permanently housed
Drug Court and Mental Health Court Statistics
BENILDE HALL’S PARTNERSHIP WITH THE KANSAS CITY MUNICIPAL COURT
Drug Court
An intensive, comprehensive, court-supervised treatment program for defendants displaying signs of a chronic and severe substance use problem. The main focus is to help participants improve their lives and health by becoming free and clean of substance use.
· A minimum of 12 months intense treatment, including 21 days of inpatient treatment
Mental Health Court
Mental Health Court is to refer and monitor appropriate therapeutic interventions for defendants who have severe and persistent mental health illnesses. They must be realistically treatable within the mental health system and currently engaged in or willing to become engaged in outpatient mental health services.
· Participants receive 6 to 12 months of mental health treatment
Average Costs Per Night
Benilde Hall City Jail ED Visit Hospitalization Average Homeless Cost Per Night to KC
$23 $60 $3,700 $3,000 $137
Kansas City saves approximately $125,700 annually with the Benilde Hall partnership.
- Total clients referred by Municipal Court: 41
- Average stay at Benilde Hall: 52.6 days
- % with income at arrival: 31.25%
- % with income at discharge: 52.94%
- Average monthly income increase: $359
- Total nights stayed: 2,095
In less than 2 months at Benilde Hall, more than half left with employment and increased income.
Insurers and Community Nonprofits Join Forces in Favor of Residential Programs
A Humana and Community CareLink’s pilot program changes how emergency responders handle calls and provide better care for people experiencing homelessness. Emergency room admittance is deferred if medically appropriate. Instead, individuals are placed in a residential facility for treatment of non-acute medical issues with the added benefit of stable housing while they are receiving care.
The pilot allows for 60 days at a residential program. In the 10 months that the pilot that has been running, 50 individuals were deferred from emergency room treatment into a residential program at Benilde Hall.
4
60 days at a residential program allow clients to find stability and potentially change their circumstances for a total of $66,000 compared to two nights and release at the ED at a cost of $370,000.
“Humana welcomed the opportunity to partner with CCL and Benilde Hall on this innovative approach to helping the homeless in the Kansas City community. The findings of this study will help inform future initiatives to improve the well-being of the city.”
Jeremy Gaskill, Humana’s central region president
Those with serious mental health and substance use disorders frequently use the local emergency rooms for treatment or end up in local jails, which causes financial burden on local hospitals and government. It is estimated that untreated adults with serious behavioral health disorders and substance use disorders cost the Greater Kansas City metro area $624 million annually.
For more information, press inquiries or media interviews, please get in touch.
3220 East 23rd Street
Kansas City, Missouri 64127
Phone: (816) 842-5836
Executive Director, Ken Vick
1 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Point-in-Time Count https://news.va.gov/84476/kansas-city-va-participates-point-time-count/
2 https://www.benildehall.org/veteran-homelessness-capital-campaign.html
