Finding alternatives to the streets for the homeless mentally ill: efficacy at a state hospital intensive placement unit.

The authors describe a sample of homeless mentally ill patients receiving extended psychiatric care on an intensive placement unit. Summaries of 246 discharges were reviewed to examine demographic and clinical factors associated with extended psychiatric care and postdischarge placement. It was found that homeless patients requiring extended care were often medically ill and substance abusing. Residential placements were accepted by most patients on discharge. It was determined that homeless psychiatric patients benefited from extended care on an inpatient unit designed to alleviate anxieties regarding living arrangements and psychiatric treatment systems historically rejected by this population.