Until recently, Rhode Island treated its chronic homeless population much the same way other states do. It placed each person in a night-to-night shelter on the condition he or she stayed sober and underwent a variety of treatment programs that the clients might not be ready, or capable, of completing.

Then, in 2005, the state and several service agencies teamed up to adopt a new national initiative yielding surprising results.

It’s called Housing First, and it provides a permanent roof over the heads of homeless people without the strings of treatment attached. The results, advocates say, has been far more homeless people stabilizing their lives, accepting treatment for their addictions and mental illnesses — all at a savings to taxpayers.

Last week the Warren agency which has run the Housing First program in Rhode Island, Riverwood Mental Health Services, announced it has been awarded a $2-million federal grant to expand over the next five years.

The announcement is welcome news, not just for the more than 600 chronically homeless in Rhode Island but to local taxpayers as well, said Jim Ryczek, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless.

The chronically homeless, who spend years living on the streets or in shelters, make up about 10 percent of the state’s homeless population. Yet “because of their complex situations, they use about 50 percent of the homeless resources in Rhode Island,” Ryczek said.

Many of the chronically homeless suffer from impairments and mental illnesses that cause them to filter through emergency rooms, hospitals and drug facilities — all expensive propositions.

Taking all those expenses into account, taxpayers actually save about $8,000 a year for each person placed instead in permanent housing, said Ryczek.

“We’re appropriately treating a member of society who can’t take care of themselves in many respects,” Ryczek said. “In doing that, we are getting a better outcome and saving the taxpayer money.”

The Housing First program currently houses 115 people, said Daniel Kubas-Meyer, executive director of Riverwood. The new grant will allow Riverwood to immediately offer the program to 50 more people and then 40 additional people by the end of the five-year period, for a total of 205 people.

tmooney@projo.com