Adults without housing were assigned to one of two drop-in centers (one exclusive to women, one for both genders). Drop-in centers provided daytime shelter, food, clothing, showers, recreational activities, and referrals to social services from on-site social workers. The service population included adults with a mental illness who were also experiencing homelessness. This intervention was implemented in St. Louis, Missouri. The intervention lasted 12 months.
The effectiveness of Drop-In Center when compared to Outpatient Treatment indicates the effect of being referred to a set of services that includes those unique to Drop-In Center, or how much better the offer of Drop-In Center meets participants’ needs than the offer of Outpatient Treatment. In contrast to Drop-In Center, Outpatient treatment provided traditional outpatient treatment from a state mental health clinic. This study also examined the effectiveness of the Continuous Treatment Team.
The intervention provided adults without housing two drop-in centers with general health services, such as daytime shelter, food, clothing, showers, and recreational activities to improve housing, income, and well-being. This evaluation directly compared Drop-in Center to a separate intervention, Outpatient Treatment, in order to better understand which of the two interventions might be more effective; Drop-in center featured two drop-in centers featuring daytime shelter, food, clothing, showers, and referrals to social services from on-site workers.