Sponsoring Agency: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Project Officer: Walter Leginiski, Ph.D., Senior Advisor on Homelessness and Project Officer
Performance Period: October 2001 – December 2002
Project Summary:
Recent studies suggest that homelessness is a problem that afflicts many adults and children in the nation and can have a broad range of short- and long-term negative consequences. It is estimated that up to 600,000 people in the United States are homeless each night. In developing programs to address the needs of the homeless, it is important to specify clearly the program goals and objectives to guide implementation of program activities, as well as a set of performance measures to facilitate documentation and analysis of the effectiveness of program interventions. This study explored the feasibility of developing a core set of performance measures for DHHS programs that focus on homelessness. It had two main objectives: (1) determine the feasibility of producing a core set of performance measures that describe accomplishments (as reflected in process and outcome measures) of the homeless-specific service programs of DHHS; and (2) determine if a core set of performance measures for homeless-specific programs in DHHS could be generated by other mainstream service programs supported by DHHS to assist low income or disabled persons. A key focus of the study was on enhancing performance measurement across four homeless-serving programs administered by DHHS: (1) Programs for Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY), (2) the Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) Program, (3) Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH), and (4) the Treatment for Homeless Persons Program (formerly called the Addiction Treatment for Homeless Persons Program). In addition, this project dealt with an important government management requirement that has affected agencies and programs for the past several years — the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), which requires government agencies to develop measures of performance, set standards for the measures, and track their accomplishments in meeting the standards. This study involved interviews with program officials knowledgeable about the four homeless-serving programs that were the main focus of this study, along with review of existing documentation. Interviews were conducted both by telephone and in-person. In addition, the research team conducted telephone interviews with program officials at four mainstream programs. Project staff also reviewed documents and interviewed program officials that operated homeless management information systems (HMIS) or homeless registry systems in several localities across the country. Reports: John Trutko and Burt Barnow, Core Performance Measures for Homeless-Serving Programs Administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Capital Research Corporation, prepared for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services, 2003. John Trutko and Burt Barnow, Potential Core Performance Measures for Homeless Specific Service Programs, prepared by Capital Research Corporation, prepared for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services, 2002. John Trutko and Burt Barnow, Analysis of Measures Derived From Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), prepared by Capital Research Corporation, prepared for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services, 2002.