Building the Path to Home

Housing Options

This section describes available housing including transitional housing (e.g., shelters), housing in the developmental and mental health sectors, social housing (rent-geared-to-income housing) and market housing.

Introduction: Elements of sustainable housing

Ideally, the person has an agreement for support with a residential provider, or a long-term lease with a landlord. He or she will need a key support person (e.g., a case manager) who can work with the person to identify and monitor the person's needs and any potential risks to the housing situation (e.g., change in level of support required or changes in the person's support network).

The key person needs to pull together the necessary supports to lessen the risks and re-stabilize the situation. If expectations become unmanageable for the person, the key person needs to advocate on the person's behalf for the necessary modifications. It may be necessary to contact community legal services in order to prevent eviction. The support person also needs to make sure that the individual understands—and is capable of carrying out—his or her obligations as a tenant.

Housing options

The harsh reality is that there is a shortage of good housing for people with a dual diagnosis. The choices are:

• transitional housing through the shelter system and some non-profit and private operators
• residential housing through the developmental services system
• residential housing through the mental health system
• social housing: non-profit housing through community agencies, faith groups, service clubs and ethnocultural organizations and subsidized housing through the City of Toronto, Toronto Community Housing, Toronto Housing Connections)
• market (private sector) housing.

Issues to consider

As you start to look for appropriate housing, think about:

• privacy (personal space as well as use of shared space such as cooking areas)
• number of people (some individuals prefer living with smaller groups of people where there is less chaotic communication; others prefer larger groups of people where they can be more anonymous and thus experience less demand for interaction)
• resident culture (e.g., age range of the group, ethnocultural mix)
• support level (Is the level of support offered in line with the intensity of the person's needs? What kind of supervision is available on a day-to-day basis? Can support levels be increased or decreased depending on the person's needs?).

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