Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative Plus (HASI Plus) is part of a suite of community-based psychosocial support programs for adults called the NSW Mental Health Community Living Programs.

HASI Plus is a statewide program for people with severe mental illness and significant difficulties managing day to day living. The program is community-based, transitional, rehabilitation and recovery-oriented. HASI Plus integrates clinical and intensive psychosocial support that is available up to 16 or 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, with stable, community-based accommodation.

The HASI Plus service model is delivered locally as a partnership between host local health districts (LHDs) and specialist mental health community managed organisations (CMOs). There are currently 70 HASI Plus places across 8 accommodation sites hosted in 4 LHDs.

The Ministry commissioned the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) at UNSW to evaluate the HASI Plus program. The evaluation ran from August 2018 to August 2021.

Summary

Overall, the evaluation shows that the program is working well and achieving most of its intended aims.

  • Consumers and their families liked HASI Plus – they reported a wide range of positive experiences in the evaluation fieldwork (and overwhelming support for the housing component of the service model).
  • CMO and LHD staff were generally satisfied with the operations, management and staffing arrangements at the sites, including training.
  • Consumer outcomes were generally positive – including a statistically significant reduction in mental health hospital admissions and length of stay in hospital after entry to HASI Plus. In addition, almost half of people who exited HASI Plus during the evaluation period transitioned to alternative community living arrangements, with 42% moving to less intensive supports.
  • The decrease in frequency and length of hospital admissions after consumers entered HASI Plus meant a saving, or cost offset, of between 35 to 85% of the average cost of a HASI Plus package (depending on how hospital inpatient costs are calculated).
  • The average cost of a HASI Plus package was $186,011 per annum, which was substantially less than the annual cost of supporting a person with a similar clinical profile or phase of illness in hospital, and also less than other comparable support programs in NSW.

Related links

File Link: Evaluation of Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative Plus (HASI Plus)
File Size: 2084 kb
Type: Report, Agreement
Date of Publication: 21 December 2022
Author: Mental Health
ISBN: 978-1-76023-414-0
SHPN: (MH) 221159