Housing

Staffed Group Homes

CC operates more than 20 staffed group homes for consumers who need assistance with activities of daily living, medication management, or behavior management or who need a specialized treatment environment for a period of their recovery. Some of the homes are transitional and are designed to help homeless persons for limited periods until permanent housing can be identified. Others are permanent and are aimed at providing long-term supports to individuals unable to live independently. The staffed group homes accommodate 6-8 residents each and are subject to oversight by several regulatory bodies.

CC has also developed specialized residences to serve consumers with special needs in three areas: HIV and AIDS, Dual-Disorders (of mental health and addictions), and Trauma/Recovery. Staff receive extra training and supervision in the relevant area(s). For example, staff in the Trauma/Recovery houses pay special attention to issues around safety and are taught to recognize and understand self-injury and other extreme behaviors that are so often part of living with childhood sexual abuse and other forms of trauma. Similarly, the HIV houses provide extra assistance around medication and nutritional needs, emotional supports for individuals living with HIV or AIDS, psycho-educational groups and ongoing updates on the management of HIV. Residents in the treatment houses have no fixed time-limit on their stay, but there is a general expectation that people will move to more normalized settings as they make progress toward recovery. For example, the dual-diagnosis houses are most appropriate for individuals in the middle phases of treatment. Those who are still early in the engagement process or in a "pre-motivational" phase often cannot benefit from the specialized services, while those who have achieved a significant period of abstinence generally choose to live more independently.

"Trauma-informed approaches to Housing," in Harris & Fallot, 2001