Demographics of the Population Experiencing Homelessness and Receiving Publicly Funded Substance Use and Mental Health Treatment Services in Delaware.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of clients experiencing homelessness in publicly funded substance use and mental health services in Delaware and uncover basic patterns in the demographics and service access of said clients.

Methods: We analyzed Consumer Reporting Form data for clients admitted to publicly funded substance use and mental health treatment. All clients who were admitted to services from a publicly-funded provider and completed the CRF between 2019 and 2021 were included in this analysis (n=29,495).

Results: 5,717 clients (19%) reported experiencing homelessness. 20% of men reported homelessness, compared to 18% of women, and 22% of Black clients reported homelessness, compared to 19% of White clients. 48% of admissions were to substance use treatment, 29% were to mental health treatment, and 23% were to treatment for both.

Conclusions: Nearly one-fifth of clients who received publicly funded treatment between 2019 and 2021 reported experiencing homelessness, a vast overrepresentation when compared against the less than 1% of the population who was counted as homeless through the annual PIT count in Delaware.

Policy implications: Homelessness can be experienced across the lifespan and impacts individuals and families of all demographic makeups. Individuals are often unable to access primary care, insurance supported services, and chronic disease management teams resulting in a disproportionately high use of emergency services and departments for acute needs.