Lantern is at the vanguard of utilizing evidence-based practices in supportive housing.

Lantern’s model is one of impact-oriented, evidence-based programming, comprising high quality staff training by program experts, rigorous monitoring of staff and organizational practices to ensure fidelity to proven programs, and robust data analysis to understand our programs’ impact on homelessness.

We currently offer our clients eight different evidence-based interventions:

  • Motivational Interviewing, a person-centered evidence-based model proven to evoke and strengthen client motivation and commitment to change in all of our sites. All Lantern staff receive two days of introductory training from MINT-certified trainers from the NYU School of Medicine, who also provide ongoing coaching, advanced trainings, and fidelity monitoring to ensure close adherence to the program’s proven guidelines.
  • IPS (Individual Placement & Support), helps clients with mental illnesses enter or rejoin the workforce. This approach prioritizes building relationships with local employers who our IPS Specialists connect with qualified candidates in our buildings. The program is proven to improve job placement and job retention and increase earnings over traditional employment services. The Rockville Institute provides Lantern IPS staff with training and implementation support.
  • Illness Management & Recovery, improves functioning and reduces hospitalizations among clients living with mental illness. The model features individual and group sessions in which clients acquire skills for managing their illness and moving forward on their personal recovery goals.
  • Lantern Health and Wellness Coordinators employ a proven model called SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) to assist eligible residents in accessing disability income benefit programs that improve their quality of life and ensure they have the income needed to support their permanent housing costs.
  • The Stanford Diabetes Self-Management program helps clients manage the disease and achieve greater health and wellness overall. The program has positive results in depression, symptoms of hypoglycemia, communication with physicians, healthy eating, and reading food labels, and also leads to greater self-efficacy and self-advocacy among patients.
  • SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment), is an evidence-based approach to identifying patients who use alcohol and other drugs at risky levels with the goal of reducing and preventing related health consequences, disease, accidents, and injuries. This comprehensive, integrated, public health approach provides opportunities for early intervention before more severe consequences occur.
  • To identify clients experiencing symptoms of depression and suicidality, evidence-based screening tools assessing depression (the PHQ9 Scale for adults and the Columbia Depression Scale for children) and suicidality (the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale) are employed to further meet the mental health needs of all clients. To streamline this process, the PHQ9 is used to place clients on a Depression Screen Flow Chart, which makes it easy for staff to accurately identify those instances where intervention is needed and to respond effectively.