The effect of group homes for the mentally ill on residential property values.

Abstract

During the past few decades, the emphasis of mental health policy has shifted from institutional to community-based care. This movement toward deinstitutionalization has involved numerous attempts to develop alternatives for the mentally ill. Residential alternatives, such as group homes, halfway houses, and independent living arrangements, have become a central component of the rehabilitation system (1). Although these facilities vary in their function, type, and size, they have in common their location in or near residential neighborhoods. The trend toward residential alternatives in the community has been threatened by neighborhood opposition. It has been established that community reaction affects both the ability of the mentally ill to participate in community life and local government’s willingness to provide services (2). Thus it has important implications for the development of community mental health care. Accounts of neighborhood opposition appear regularly in media reports of facility siting. One of the most frequent arguments used by opponents ofsuch sitings is that property values in their neighborhood will decline if a facility is located there.