Permanent Housing

What are the differences between permanent and transitional housing?

Permanent housing refers to what the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) calls permanent supported housing, which provides affordable housing tied to supportive services, such as ongoing addiction or mental health treatment, case management and help with life skills.

It is called permanent because there is no time limit on how long people can stay in their permanent housing setting.

In contrast, HUD and other funding sources tend to place strict time limits on how long a person can live in emergency or transitional housing (usually 90 days and 6–9 months respectively).

Because there is no time limit, permanent supported housing is restricted to those persons who have some type of disabling condition that makes it difficult or impossible for them to live without additional supports.

Types of People in Permanent Housing

At Camillus House, we generally see two types of people in permanent supported housing:

Persons in recovery

...from substance abuse tend to need a controlled, supportive environment while they learn to live on their own. These persons tend to move on into other “non-supported” housing after they have become comfortable in their sobriety and employment. For example, at our Somerville Residence (47 families) the average length of stay for a family is two years, after which time most of them move on to independent housing.

Persons with conditions that will make it difficult for them to live on their own

...such as a mental illness or a physical disability may live in a supported housing program for the rest of their life. For example, at our Brownsville Christian Housing Center (72 singles) most of the clients suffer from some form of mental illness or physical disability. We expect that many of them will never be able to move out.