Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Open Door : the mental health system transformed -- Voluntarism and the rise of advocacy -- Homeless people with severe mental illness -- Overcoming the problem of disengagement from treatment -- Mental health services take to the streets -- From the streets to homes -- Challenges to bringing housing to scale -- National initiatives to ending homelessness -- Can homelessness be prevented? -- Beyond housing : opening the door to community participation.

The Open Door provides a comprehensive, carefully documented "state of the science" on homelessness and mental illness. The book reviews the effectiveness of service and housing interventions targeted at this constituency, and discusses efforts to bring evidence-based programs to scale.

"Explains how and why homelessness among the mentally ill has persisted over the past 35 years, despite policy and program initiatives to end it. This ten-chapter book chronicles the unintended rise of homelessness in the wake of far-reaching post-World War II mental health care reforms, and highlights the key role of advocacy in spurring a governmental response to homelessness. The author provides a comprehensive, carefully documented "state of the science" on homelessness, reviews critical issues in managing severe mental illness in the community setting, and presents evidence of the effectiveness of service and housing interventions that have brought stability to the lives of many. Finally, the book reviews the role of homelessness prevention, a recovery orientation, and the promise of early treatment of psychotic disorders to facilitate greater social inclusion and community participation."--Publisher's description.