A Multiple-City RCT of Housing First With Assertive Community Treatment for Homeless Canadians With Serious Mental Illness

Objective:Housing First with assertive community treatment (ACT) is a promising approach to assist people with serious mental illness to exit homelessness. The article presents two-year findings from a multisite trial on the effectiveness of Housing First with ACT.Methods:The study design was a randomized controlled trial conducted in five Canadian cities. A sample of 950 participants with serious mental illness who were absolutely homeless or precariously housed were randomly assigned to receive either Housing First with ACT (N=469) or treatment as usual (N=481).Results:Housing First participants spent more time in stable housing than participants in treatment as usual (71% versus 29%, adjusted absolute difference [AAD]=42%, p