This paper describes a study that examined a strategy to prevent homelessness among individuals who have serious mental illness. The strategy provides a bridge between institutional and community care. The Critical Time Intervention (CTI) was tested using 96 men who have serious mental illness and were entering community housing from shelters. The men were randomly divided into two categories: (1) nine months of CTI; or(2) Usual Services Only (USO). They were then tracked for 18 months. Results indicate that over the tracking period, the average number of nights homeless was 30 for CTI and 91 for USO. Survival curves showed that after the nine-month period of active intervention, the difference between the groups did not diminish. The authors contend that strategies that focus on a critical time of transition can be used in the prevention of homelessness for individuals with mental illness, and possibly also in other aspects of care (authors). [abstract]