Maine is one of eight states to receive this funding. The study will compare two major housing models used for people with serious and persistent mental illness, continuum of care and supported housing. Maine was one of only two states in the study that had a large enough supply of supported housing to plan a randomized research design.
Maine is still a leader in the supported housing model.
Werrbach will be heading the project evaluation with co-project evaluation director Winston Turner. They are not going to imperil the process, but we are going to have to adapt to the changes the cuts make. The school is now in the process of recruiting approximately 150 people from BMHI, AMHI, other hospital psychiatric units and group homes to take part in the study. The participants will all be people who are ready to move from an institutional setting to an alternative community housing model. Some people remain in group homes and others are moved into their own apartments in buildings that predominately house people with long-term mental illness and which are supervised by social service agencies and an apartment manager.