Homelessness Prevention: Psychiatric Care With Representative Payeeship

Money management is a neglected issue in maintaining persons with mental illness in the community. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) assessed whether a community-based representative payee program, i.e., money management of Social Security and/or VA benefits, coordinated with VA psychiatric care (CO-RP) could be more effective than customary treatment for veterans who had no representative payee.

Background: Money management is a neglected issue in maintaining persons with mental illness in the community. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) assessed whether a community-based representative payee program, i.e., money management of Social Security and/or VA benefits, coordinated with VA psychiatric care (CO-RP) could be more effective than customary treatment for veterans who had no representative payee. Objectives: After 184 subjects were randomly assigned to CO-RP experimental group or customary care control group, hypotheses were that the CO-RP group would experience: 1) more frequent enrollment in the representative payee program, 2) improved residential status, 3) improved health-related quality of life, including less mental illness symptomatology, 4) less substance abuse, 5) improved money management. Methods: Six-month interviews were completed on 152 of 184 possible subjects (83%) and 12-month interviews were completed on 149 of 184 possible subjects (81%). The six and twelve-month outcomes were analyzed with analysis of covariance using data from the baseline pretest. Status: Completed.

Inclusion Criteria: Severe mental illness; Inability to manage money; VA patient Exclusion Criteria:

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