Connecting Systems. Centering People. Creating Pathways out of Homelessness.
Frequent Users System Engagement (FUSE) Greater Portland is a targeted, collaborative initiative launched in Portland in April 2015.
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FUSE Greater Portland uses a by-name, data-driven approach to identify, house, and support people who are chronically homeless or unsheltered, frequent users of emergency systems, and individuals who need permanent supportive housing to achieve stability. More than 20 organizations have collaborated through this effort for over a decade, resulting in more than 538 people housed and an average housing retention rate of 90 percent since the initiative began.
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FUSE COMMITTEE MEETINGS
A core group of providers—including shelters, outreach teams, housing providers, jail and court system partners, service providers, and healthcare representatives—meet biweekly to coordinate care for a small group of individuals who interact repeatedly with multiple parts of Portland’s emergency systems. This coordinated case approach allows partners to align roles, share responsibility, and focus on clear, outcome-driven strategies to support people with complex needs in achieving and maintaining housing stability.
IMPACT OF THE FUSE APPROACH
Data from the FUSE by-name list shows the impact of coordinated, cross-system housing efforts.
These data below reflect the impact of FUSE Greater Portland's work and come directly from its by-name list – a shared, real-time tool used by housing, healthcare, and justice system partners. The initiative tracks jail and hospital use when people are unhoused versus housed – and the differences are stark.
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By coordinating who is doing what for each person, FUSE helps people with complex needs move from repeated system involvement into stable housing. The results show both the effectiveness of this approach and the steep human and system costs when people remain unhoused.
PEOPLE HOUSED THROUGH THE FUSE INITIATIVE
TO DATE
SUCCESS RATE IN HOUSING THROUGH THIS INITIATIVE SINCE IT BEGAN
MORE LIKELY TO BE
IN JAIL WHEN
UNHOUSED
VS HOUSED
MORE LIKELY TO BE
IN THE HOSPITAL WHEN UNHOUSED
VS HOUSED
AN EVIDENCE-BASED SOLUTION
Housing with services matched to individual need improves outcomes and lowers reliance on emergency systems.
FUSE Greater Portland's data demonstrates that this population is up to 29 times more likely to be hospitalized and 57 times more likely to be incarcerated than when housed. Over four years of data, housed individuals rarely had jail involvement, while at least one in ten unhoused individuals have consistently cycled through incarceration. Jail stays cost roughly four times more than housing, and hospitalizations cost nearly 28 times more.​
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The evidence is clear: housing paired with services matched to individual need leads to stability, improved outcomes, and dramatically reduced reliance on costly emergency systems. Permanent housing with adequate support enables sustained engagement, helps people build long-term stability, and breaks the cycle of crisis and system involvement. This is the goal for every person identified through the FUSE by-name list.
GET INVOLVED WITH FUSE!
FUSE Committee | c/o Vickey Merrill, Community Housing of Maine (CHOM) | vickey@chomhousing.org