The Link Between Mental Health Services and Stable Housing
New Yorkers experiencing homelessness – both unsheltered and sheltered – are very likely to face one or more of the following issues: serious mental illness, substance abuse disorder, and physical or mental disability. At HousingPlus, we believe housing has to go hand in hand with support. For people struggling and living with mental illnesses, this support has to be consistent, compassionate, engaged, and ready to meet people on good days and bad. In this article, we’ll look at some solutions that work for people who have a serious mental illness and are experiencing housing insecurity.
There is insufficient data on exactly how many or what proportion of shelter residents in New York City have a Serious Mental Illness (SMI). That lack of data is part of the problem. As a rough estimate, we extrapolated from a City Comptroller Audit in 2021 and found that 17.5% of the homeless people going through intake into a City Shelter had one of three serious mental illnesses: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar/manic depression. The audit did not consider other serious mental illnesses, so we assume 17.5% is a low estimate.
We aren’t alone: An article from late 2025 in Vital City points out that, regarding individuals in crisis on our City’s streets and subways, “Providing housing without treatment is woefully insufficient, and treatment without housing leaves [people without housing] vulnerable to a vicious cycle of circumstances.”
Compassionately and safely working with individuals who are both unhoused and mentally ill is not impossible. How can we build a system that helps more individuals experiencing both serious mental illness and homelessness?
46 Beds Should Only Be a Start
Bridge to Home is an initiative by NYC Health + Hospitals to support patients living with serious mental illness and at high risk of experiencing homelessness. However, the initial Bridge to Home facility, opened in September 2025, has only 46 beds. We are excited to see that Health + Hospitals plans to expand the program, perhaps as soon as this Fall. We believe this cannot come soon enough.
Recognize Intersection with Incarceration
It’s not only our homeless shelters that have a disproportionate number of individuals impacted by mental illness. Sadly, it is also our jails. In 2025, a study by Data for Collaborative Justice found that approximately 21% of the City’s jail population has a serious mental illness. When managing the dual complications of being justice-involved and have a mental illness, the likelihood of return to jail, or exiting jail directly into shelter increases. This is why programs like HousingPlus’ Justice Works are so vital; these transitional programs provide a place to land for those who are leaving jail (or prison) and at high risk of becoming unhoused.
Embed Social Workers at Every Stage
In 2023, the City pledged to embed more social workers and mental health providers throughout shelters. As of April 2025, over 80% of shelters had a mental health staffer on-site. As a Gothamist article notes, the presence of a mental health professional can “more quickly get people into supportive housing programs,” as they can identify and work with shelter residents with psychiatric conditions.
We believe a social worker or trained professional with a background in basic intervention and communication with someone with a mental illness would be valuable at all points in the process. Mental health professionals and/or social workers make a huge difference in direct outreach to unhoused people. Having these same health professionals accessible to people exiting shelter once they leave for permanent housing could help tremendously. HousingPlus, for instance, works with our justice-involved participants for an additional year of case management after they exit the transitional program and go to their permanent homes.
Housing First, As Always
In all ways, the intersection of mental health conditions and homelessness reminds us that we must treat housing as the essential foundation. Mental health cannot be managed effectively if our neighbors in need continually experience the stress, anxiety, disruption, and dehumanization of losing temporary shelter or cycling through insufficient systems.