Barriers to Housing for Deinstitutionalized Psychiatric Patients

Despite having appropriate medication and supervision, a deinstitutionalized patient could still find himself in a temporary shelter or on the street, seeking permanent housing (3). Our hypothetical patient, working at a minimum wage, could not afford most of the private apartments and could not get into public housing. The unavailability of public housing is de facto discrimination against persons who cannot afford private housing and consequently become homeless, whether because of mental illness or for other reasons. However, even with sufficient income, a deinstitutionalized patient still faces discrimination in the private housing market.

Twenty-two percent of the managers contacted refused to rent to a mental patient or denied that a vacancy existed. Twenty-two percent would have nothing to do with the mentally ill no matter what the economics. That finding is one barometer of how mental patients are accepted in a large metropolitan area. The mentally ill face not only the burden of their illness but also significant barriers to housing. They are shut out of public housing by lack of available units and out of private apartments by high rents and outright discrimination.