Creating organizational commitment to change: Key to consumer employment success in a supportive housing agency

Abstract

Supportive housing programs are highly effective in reducing recidivism and preventing homelessness among individuals with serious mental illness. However, supportive housing programs have not focused on increasing employment outcomes among consumers residing in their programs. In addition, creating organizational commitment among supportive housing providers towards improving consumer employment outcomes remains a major challenge. This article describes how an agency made an organizational transformation from providing traditional housing services to developing an in-house supported employment service, and successfully increased consumer competitive employment rates from 13% to 54% within two years. The organizational change strategies and interventions that can be generalized to other housing providers are discussed.