Site-Based Services for Residents of Single-Room Occupancy Hotels

Key words: evaluation; poverty, self-sufficiency, single-room occupancy hotels; site-based social services Single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels often are viewed as "skid row" housing for people one step away from homelessness. This view is beginning to change in some communities where SRO housing is seen as a community resource for the prevention of homelessness rather than as a community liability that should be demolished. A handful of communities have provided innovative site-based social services to SRO hotels as means of reducing rehospitalizations for mental illness, preventing homelessness, and increasing economic self-sufficiency (Berman-Rossi & Cohen, 1989; Cohen, Sichel, & Berger, 1977; Linhorst, 1991; Rife, First, Greenlee, Miller, & Feichter, 1991; U.S. Conference of Mayors, 1987). Limited evaluation data are available to assess the efficacy of providing onsite services to this underserved population. This article presents the findings of an evaluation of a demonstration program that provides on-site social services and job counseling to SRO residents. SRO units generally are located in residential hotels and constitute a single room without a private bath and kitchen facilities. The SRO population includes primarily low-income single adults who may be elderly or experiencing mental or physical health problems (Linhorst, 1991; Rollinson, 1991). In a study of Chicago SRO units, Hoch and Slayton (1989) described the SRO population as being composed primarily of working poor people. Contrary to popular opinion, 37 percent of the residents reported that they did not drink at all. Thirty-eight percent of the residents were experiencing some form of serious physical illness at the time of the study. SRO hotels vary in the quality of life they offer residents. Mismanagement can result in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Linhorst (1991) viewed SRO housing as offering a residential alternative that can provide personal freedom, privacy, and a sense of community for people with chronic mental illness. Hoch and Slayton (1989) concurred that the SRO hotel offers "independence, not isolation, as a way of life." They found that "most residents possess a variety of social attachments to kin, friends, and neighborhood life" (p. 147). Many residents had regular ongoing contact with hotel staff, who provided support and security. However, Rollinson (1991) found that elderly residents in SRO hotels in Chicago were "trapped in a situation that exacerbated their isolation and withdrawal from society and were in desperate need of social services" (p. 303). Many SRO units have been demolished or converted to different uses. It has been estimated that during the 1970s, half of these structures were lost. A major cause of homelessness among single people, many with mental illness, has been attributed to this loss of housing (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 1987). More recently there has been a move in some communities to save existing SRO housing and to build new units on a limited basis (Linhorst, 1991). On-Site Services at SROs Social services programs targeting SRO hotels typically have used interdisciplinary teams to provide counseling, case management services, educational programs, and social activities to residents on site. The U.S. Conference of Mayors (1987) described two model programs in a report published by the National Institute of Mental Health. One program, established in San Francisco, uses case managers to establish relationships with residents using an approach that "de-emphasizes regulations and structures often associated with social service and mental health agencies" (p. 13). A collaborative project in Chicago between Chicago's Department of Human Services and the Lakefront Single Room Occupancy Corporation provides on-site social services support and establishes and maintains linkages with other agencies to provide assistance to individuals in stabilizing their living situations. …