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By Larry Sackett StarNews Correspondent Published: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 2:21 p.m. One year ago Howard Long, 50, was homeless, had no income, and was living outdoors. He had been to the emergency room at least twice and had been arrested for sleeping in public. Today Long rents an apartment, pays for groceries and utilities and has health insurance from Medicare. What changed Long’s life is an innovative program called SOAR, which last year helped get 31 chronically homeless people in New Hanover County into housing. SOAR stands for SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery. SSI is Supplemental Security Income and SSDI is Social Security Disability Insurance; both are administered by the Social Security Administration. SOAR is part of the Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in the Cape Fear Region, which is administered …
The SOAR initiative is a federally funded partnership (HHS, HUD) that seeks to assist adults who are homeless to apply for SSI/SSDI, which generally provides health insurance as well. SOAR involves a comprehensive approach that includes training for community and hospital staffs in the intricacies of the SSI/SSDI application process and ensuring that approved individuals receive health insurance, treatment, and other services to begin recovery. This initiative is a “win” for all medical providers, including hospitals, as services and medications are then covered under Medicaid or Medicare, depending on the disability benefit received. Read the full description here.
On June 29, 2009, NCCEH hosted a summit for hospital leadership on "Increasing Successful Outcomes While Decreasing Costs: Hospital Partnerships to End Homelessness." Agenda and Presentations: Summit Agenda: view pdf Richard Cho, Corporation for Supportive Housing - "Current Research: Costs and potential cost savings associated with healthcare for frequent users who are homeless": view ppt Lori Pacura, Mount Sinai Medical Center - "Model of Success: Chicago Housing for Health Partnership": view ppt Brooks Ann McKinney, Raleigh Rescue Mission - "Homeless Mental Health Respite": view ppt Denise Neunaber, NC Coalition to End Homelessness - "NC SOAR: Success Through Outreach, Access and Recovery": view ppt Additional Resources: From the Corporation for Supportive Housing: Frequent Users of Health Services Initiative fact sheet: view pdf "A Dollars and Cents Strategy to Reducing Frequent Use of Hospital Services": view pdf Press …