Supportive Housing Provides Montanans with a Place to Call Home
Supportive Housing Is Part of the Solution to Montana’s Housing Crisis
Everyone deserves a safe, stable place to sleep at night. Montana is facing a housing crisis in both affordability and availability, leading to higher rates of housing instability and a higher risk of homelessness. No one wants to see their neighbor living on the street, but how we solve this crisis is important. Montana should shift resources and invest in programs like supportive housing that help individuals get off the streets while providing support with employment, mental health counseling, and financial planning. Providing stable housing, coupled with resources, enables neighborhoods to grow into strong, thriving communities.
What is Supportive Housing?
Supportive housing combines affordable housing with supportive services to help people facing the greatest barriers to housing stability, such as financial constraints, limited access to application support, or poor credit history.[i] Supportive housing is backed by years of data and research and helps individuals live with autonomy and dignity. People in supportive housing often have improvements in employment, mental and physical health, school attendance, and a reduction in substance use.[ii] Someone can continue living in supportive housing until they decide to move out, as the goal is to help people stay housed in a way that works best for them.
Services Provided in Supportive Housing
Supportive services include programs that help people find and maintain housing. There are many service types, such as case management, health care, substance use counseling, job training, employment support, and child support services. These services help solve barriers that keep families from finding and staying in housing. Beyond placing someone in housing, many additional services support someone’s ability to stay housed. This can include:[iii]
Access to health care, including behavioral health services and/or substance use treatment;
Career counseling and job application support;
Applying for rental assistance programs; and
Accessing services for individuals living with a disability or aging services.
One of the stipulations of supportive housing is to prioritize housing people. Once an individual is housed, there are also options for tenants to learn tenancy skills. Tenancy skills are the fundamentals of tenants’ rights and responsibilities for maintaining housing.[iv] Tenancy skills might not be common knowledge to those who have never rented or have not rented recently. Tenant services, tools, and skills may help tenants with:[iii]
Learning Fair Housing rules, which protect against discrimination when renting;
Education on finding resources for home safety (e.g., ramps, rails);
Education about tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities;
Budgeting and financing training to secure income for housing each month; and
Education on housing maintenance.
Although housing families can be part of the solution to housing instability, some people may need housing coupled with supportive services to remain housed. Supportive services help individuals maintain stable homes by addressing underlying issues that can lead to housing instability, such as financial, medical, and behavioral health challenges.[v]
Who Does Supportive Housing Serve
Supportive housing often serves people who face greater barriers to housing, such as living with a disability, long-term housing instability, lack of income, or other challenges that may delay finding a home.[i] Nationally, 40.4 percent of the homeless population reported formal employment in the year they were observed homeless.[vi] Of the 2,008 individuals reported as homeless in Montana in 2024, 542 had children.[vii] These working families are our neighbors and deserve supportive services to help them gain stability and a safe place to sleep. Individuals living in supportive housing pay rent and are held to the same responsibilities and standards as anyone renting, but this is not contingent on meeting behavioral requirements.
One of the populations often prioritized is people who experience chronic homelessness, meaning 12 months or more of homelessness, or four episodes of homelessness in the last three years.[viii] In 2024, 2,008 individuals in Montana were experiencing homelessness on a given night, of whom 451 were chronically homeless.[vii] The population experiencing chronic homelessness is often prioritized, as experiencing homelessness for extended periods of time can have a detrimental effect on someone’s mental, physical, and emotional health. Due to many environmental factors, such as a lack of access to hygiene facilities, exposure to the elements, threats of violence, and poor nutrition, people who experience chronic homelessness also have a life expectancy 17 years shorter than that of people with stable housing.[ix], [x] Families living without a home are unfairly burdened by underlying factors that can affect their health, and this burden warrants intervention by policymakers and advocates. The most effective and proven intervention for solving chronic homelessness is serving people experiencing chronic homelessness through supportive housing.[xi], [xii]
Another population that is often prioritized is people living with disabilities. Adults living with disabilities experience poverty at more than twice the rate of non-disabled adults due to factors like needing expensive medical care, special transport, or a lack of jobs offering accommodations.[xiii] In 2025, of the 8,669 people experiencing homelessness served by providers, 37 percent, or 3,242 individuals, lived with one or more disabilities.
[xiv]Unemployment rates are also higher among individuals with disabilities, for many reasons, such as difficulty receiving accommodations in the workplace or lack of adequate transportation to work, and many people living with disabilities receive a legally allowed subminimum wage.[xv],[xvi] Programs like supportive housing help ensure that Montanans living with disabilities have stable, accessible housing.
Supportive housing often functions by providing supportive services without requiring treatment as a precondition of receiving housing.[xvii] For example, someone with a substance use disorder would be allowed supportive housing services before having to seek treatment. People experiencing homelessness can be susceptible to substance use due to harsh living conditions like hunger, weather, and uncertainty.[xviii] According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, 108,035 individuals experiencing homelessness in 2023 were also experiencing chronic substance use, equating to 16.5 percent of the homeless population.[xix] Placement in supportive housing is associated with decreases in substance use disorder-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits.[xx] Policymakers
should invest in solving the source of a substance use disorder rather than putting the person through harmful and expensive cycles of health care and incarceration. By prioritizing stable, affordable housing, families can improve their livelihoods and health while knowing they have a safe place to sleep.
Some people, like individuals living with disabilities, might always require supportive housing, but most people eventually leave supportive housing for an environment that is less hands-on.
Someone might leave supportive housing because they no longer need services, have found a new job, or need a larger apartment. Supportive housing programs help ensure housing stability by providing wraparound services until families’ complex needs are met or they choose to move on
from supportive housing.[ii]
Supportive Housing Saves on Health Care Costs
Supportive housing programs have growing evidence that they work, with a one-year housing retention rate of up to 98 percent and individuals getting rehoused in an average of two months.[xxi] Many cost studies show that supportive housing reduces overall public costs by tenants’ decreased need for homeless shelters, hospitals, emergency rooms, and detention centers.[i] In a Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana study in 2020, researchers found that one 67-year-old Montanan living without housing incurred nearly $58,000 of inpatient and emergency care services in one year.[xxii] These costs are incurred due to the health outcomes of harsh living conditions outdoors and unaddressed behavioral health challenges.
Investing in Supportive Housing Saves Money for Taxpayers
Supportive housing can help reduce the burden of emergency care on taxpayers. Supportive housing yields average savings of $31,545 per person in emergency services over two years and can cost up to $23,000 less per taxpayer per year than a shelter program.[xxiii] The US Department of Housing and Urban Development reports that, according to national studies, supportive housing reduced arrests among participants by 50 to 90 percent and emergency department use by 50 to 89 percent.[xxiv] According to the Montana Healthcare Foundation, supportive housing programs in Montana have reduced detention center costs by 48 percent and emergency room visits by 3.8-fold.[xxv] In a supportive housing community in Bozeman, there was a 50 percent reduction in emergency room visits and significant improvements in mental health and employment stability after being housed.[xxvi] Not only does supportive housing reduce the cost of health care for taxpayers, but it also significantly improves the quality of life for the individuals it serves.
Supportive Housing Helps Families Thrive
Supportive housing programs can also help keep families together.[xxvii] Programs with rental assistance reduce the number of families living in shelters or on the street by 75 percent and the number living in overcrowded conditions by more than 50 percent.[xxviii] In 2018, of the 3 million individuals supported nationwide through rental assistance, 936,000 were children.[xxviii] Reducing housing instability through supportive housing programs also helps families reduce family costs. While living in stable housing, participants in supportive housing programs can stabilize their finances, building savings for when things go awry, such as when a car needs repairs. Having a safe, stable home allows families to focus on other priorities than where they will sleep, improving health outcomes. [xxii]
Family Self-Sufficiency Program Helps MT Families Thrive
Many supportive housing programs in Montana also utilize a program called Family Self-Sufficiency. As income grows and more is put toward rent, Family Self-Sufficiency will deposit the difference from the rental increase into a special savings account, helping families meet other goals beyond housing stability, such as education and financial goals.[xxix],[xxx] At the Missoula
Housing Authority, between 2020 and 2024, 105 individuals who utilized the program graduated with a certificate or degree and built up a small amount of savings, $7,703 each, to help weather the storms in times of stress. Investments in supportive housing help Montana families thrive and live happier, healthier lives by providing a safe place to call home.
HEART Waiver Expands Medicaid-Supported Services to House Community Members
In 2022, Montana began using the Healing and Ending Addiction through Recovery and Treatment (HEART) Waiver to fund Medicaid-supported community-based treatment services.[xxxi] The HEART Waiver helps expand treatments and programs that can help people access housing. The expanded Medicaid funds can now be used for services such as behavioral health counseling, addiction treatment, and tenancy support for low-income adults.[xxxii],[xxxiii] Montana is one of 41 US states that have adopted some form of Medicaid expansion. Although this expansion allowed more individuals to use supportive services, if the federal government does not match state investment funds at 80 to 90 percent, the expansion program would automatically end.[xxxiv] This potential to end funding for supportive housing puts those who use it at risk. Montana advocates and policymakers should work with state Medicaid agencies to ensure that federal funds are secured so the state and individuals do not lose coverage if the federal government reduces funding.
Policy Solutions to Advance Supportive Housing in Montana
Increasing state investments in supportive housing programs can continue the success of existing programs in Montana, including improved health and economic outcomes. To help ensure Montana community members are housed, policymakers should:
Invest state funds into affordable housing programs that provide supportive services;
Invest in programs like Family Self-Sufficiency; and
Ensure federal and state funding for HEART Waiver and assess opportunities to better leverage Medicaid funds to address homelessness.
Everyone in Montana deserves a safe, stable place to sleep. Not only is supportive housing an innovative and evidence-based solution to homelessness, but it also improves the well-being and quality of life of those who use it. Montana should invest in supportive housing programs to create healthy, thriving neighborhoods for all.
End Notes
[i] Corporation for Supportive Housing, “Supportive Housing,” 2025.
[ii] Corporation for Supportive Housing, “What is Supportive Housing,” 2026.
[iii] Department of Public Health and Humans Services, “HEART Waiver- Tenancy Support Services,” Jan. 2025.
[iv] Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, “Tenant Skills”.
[v] Dohler, E., et al., “Supportive Housing Helps Vulnerable People Live and Thrive in the Community,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, May 2016.
[vi] Meyer, et al., “Learning About Homelessness Using Linked Survey and Administrative Data,” June 2021.
[viii] HUD Exchange, “Definition of Chronic Homelessness,” 2015.
[ix] Encyclopedia of Mental Health, “Homelessness and Mental Health: A Research Perspective,” 2016.
[x]Community Solutions, “What is Chronic Homelessness,” July 2022
[xi] National Alliance to End Homelessness” Permanent Supportive Housing,” 2023.
[xii] Batko, S., and Moraras, P., “Evidence Shows Supportive Housing Helps People Exit Homelessness,” Urban Institute, November 2025.
[xiii] National Disability Institute, “Financial Inequity: Disability, Race and Poverty in America,” 2019.
[xiv] Sage, C., Pathways MISI, “RE: Disability and houselessness,“ email to Aubrey Godbey, MBPC, July 30, 2026, on file with author.
[xv] Preisser, J., “Disability and Homelessness in America,” March 2025.
[xvi] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Barriers to employment for people with a disability,” July 2020.
[xvii] Mental Health America, “Supportive housing and housing first,” December 2023.
[xviii] Denver Rescue Mission, “The Connection Between Homelessness and Substance Abuse: How the Mission Helps.”
[xx] Miller-Archie, S., et al., “Impact of supportive housing on substance use-related health care utilization among homeless persons who are active substance users,” Dec. 2018.
[xxi] National Alliance to End Homelessness, “Housing First,” March 2022.
[xxii] The Montana Coalition to Solve Homelessness, “The Cost of Ignoring the Issue.”
[xxiii] National Alliance to End Homelessness, “Housing First,” March 2022.
[xxiv] Montana Healthcare Foundation, “Why Invest in Supportive Housing?” June 2019.
[xxv] Montana Healthcare Foundation, “2022 Annual Report,” 2022.
[xxvi] Smith, E., Central House Strategies, “RE: Data for fact sheets,” email to Aubrey Godbey, MBPC, Nov. 26, 2025, on file with author.
[xxvii] CBPP, “Supportive Housing Helps Vulnerable People Live and Thrive in the Community,” May 2016.
[xxviii] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “Research Shows Rental Assistance Reduces Hardship and Provides Platform to Expand Opportunity for Low-Income Families,” Dec. 2019.
[xxix] Missoula Housing Authority, “Family Self-Sufficiency.”
[xxx] Office of Public Housing and Voucher Programs, “Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program FACT SHEET,” Apr. 2026.
[xxxi] Department of Public Health and Human Services, “HEART Waiver,” 2021.
[xxxii] Department of Public Health and Human Services, “HEART Waiver Services.”
[xxxiii] Department of Public Health and Human Services, “Tenancy Support Services.”
[xxxiv] Corporation for Supportive Housing, “CHS Health Policy Series: Medicaid, Housing, and the Future of Supportive Services,” May 2025.
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