Created under the McKinney-Vento Act, The PATH (Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness) Program, is a formula grant program that funds the 50 States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and four U.S. Territories to support service delivery to individuals with serious

mental illnesses A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

, as well as individuals with co-occurring substance use disorders, who are

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

or at risk of becoming homeless. The

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA; pronounced ) is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is charged with improving the quality and availability of treatment and rehabilitative services ...

(SAMHSA) provides technical assistance to states and local providers funded by the PATH program. This includes on-site consultation, collection of annual reporting data, the development of an annual report to Congress, holding bi-annual meetings of PATH contacts, and identifying and disseminating

best practice A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing ...

s from the program. The PATH Consumer Involvement Workgroup's guiding vision was to encourage PATH programs to employ mental health consumers with homelessness experience as direct care staff.

External links

PATH Program Home page

Consumer Involvement in the Path Program

PATH State Contacts
Mental health in the United States Homelessness in the United States {{US-org-stub

See also

External links