The Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI) and Community Living Supports (CLS) are community-based programs that support people with severe mental illness to live and participate in the community, the way that they want to. The programs offer psychosocial support, tenancy support in partnership with clinical mental health services. Many consumers are also supported to access secure housing.
HASI/CLS are statewide programs funded by the NSW Ministry of Health (Ministry) and delivered locally through partnerships between local health district (LHD) mental health services and specialist mental health Community Managed Organisations (CMOs). The programs also have a strong partnership with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) and community housing providers for social housing.
The Ministry commissioned the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) to evaluate the HASI/CLS programs. The evaluation involved two rounds of qualitative interviews and focus groups, as well as the analysis of quantitative program data and statewide outcomes data about consumers. It ran from November 2017 to January 2020, with final analysis completed in 2021.
HASI/CLS supported 5,533 consumers in the study period from 2015 to 2019. Most consumers were in the programs for only part of this period. The average time in HASI and CLS during this period was 10.7 months. Overall, the evaluation shows that HASI/CLS is generally working well, achieving its goals and is cost effective.