| Abstract: | Abstract When homeless and severely mentally ill individuals leave housing programs designed to help them achieve stability, their very lives become at risk. Despite the prevalence of this problem and its potentially life-threatening consequences, there is a complete dearth of case studies examining why clients in programs for the homeless and mentally ill suddenly depart from those programs, and how paranoid and other seemingly unreachable clients can significantly improve the quality of their lives. This single case study, utilizing a naturalistic methodology, provides a before and after picture of a client who precipitously left a housing program, then returned two years later in a state of severe physical and mental decompensation. The study focuses on understanding why the client left the program the first time and what could be done to prevent another premature discharge. The findings point to a lack of coordination of care and problems with stable human interaction on the part of those caring for Charles, and are critical to understanding how to engage successfully with homeless and severely mentally ill clients. |
