1. Studying the Costs of Homelessness Midstream Lessons from a National Cost Study Jill Khadduri National Alliance to End Homelessness Annual Conference, July 2007

2. NAEH Conference, July 2007 Show costs of homelessness to mainstream systems – Net cost (or savings) from ending homelessness – Potential for cost offsets to particular systems Show societal costs of homelessness – Economic loss to businesses, neighborhoods – Economic loss from loss of earnings potential Compare efficiency of different programs (or approaches) to serving similar homeless people Compare costs of a program (or approach) to its outcomes: cost/effectiveness study Why Study Costs? Several Possible Purposes

3. NAEH Conference, July 2007 Costs to whom? – A single funder? – Multiple funders? – Homeless people themselves? – Relatives, friends, neighbors? Costs of what? – A single program? – An “approach”: multiple programs that operate at the same time or sequentially? Need to decide (based on purpose of study)

4. NAEH Conference, July 2007 Purposes – Compare costs of different approaches to serving homeless people (individuals and families) – Measure costs to mainstream systems before, during, and after homelessness Not a cost effectiveness study—not measuring outcomes Not a study of societal economic costs of homelessness Is developing methods that can be used in studies with a variety of purposes Abt Study of Costs of Homelessness for HUD

5. NAEH Conference, July 2007 Uses HMIS data to find “pathways” clients take through the homeless services system and to count their units of service Measures costs of all programs for homeless people used during the pathway by multiplying units of service (from HMIS) by unit costs (from program budgets) Requires a well-populated HMIS for the study period – Most HMIS cannot do this for 2004 or 2005 – But HMIS are building fast Abt Study Measures Costs of Approaches, Not Individual Programs

6. NAEH Conference, July 2007 Example for a Particular Client Emergency Shelter for Singles = $2/night Transitional Housing for Singles = $3/night PSH for Singles = $4/night Central Intake for Singles = $1/intake Central Intake 1 intake $1 Emergency 30 nights 30 x $2 = $60 Transitional 90 nights 90 x $3 = $180 Total client costs $241 + + =

7. NAEH Conference, July 2007 Typology is needed – So can infer costs of other, similar programs from costs of programs for which data collection is possible – So can describe the pathway in way that makes sense to policy audience Goes beyond emergency, transitional, permanent supportive:—e.g., separate categories for scattered-site, shared rooms, private apartments and/or different intensity of services Each typology is tailored to the homeless services system in the study community Pathway for Each Client is based on a Typology of Programs

8. NAEH Conference, July 2007 For residential programs, unit costs include: – Costs of operating the housing or shelter – Cost of acquiring/developing the housing or shelter – Costs of services provided by the program – Overhead or administrative costs For residential programs, the unit of service is a bed night or unit night For services only programs, unit costs vary by type of program: e.g., cost per day, cost per service encounter Unit Costs of Homeless Programs

9. NAEH Conference, July 2007 Interviews for information needed to understand costs: which clients? what services? what partnerships? what type of housing? Cost collection spreadsheets to record information from program financial statements and ensure all costs are included; e.g., – Services provided by private funding – In-kind contributions and donated labor – All overhead costs, not just administrative costs chargeable to particular programs Cost Collection Instruments for Homeless Programs

10. NAEH Conference, July 2007 Cost collection approaches for residential costs that do not appear on annual financial statements and budgets – One-time acquisition, rehab, construction costs Development pro formas (when they exist) Less formal information from interviews, file cabinets – Value of donated space Challenging to collect May not be needed if purpose of study does not require costs to all funders But governments may donate space—is this a cost? Capital costs of residential programs

11. NAEH Conference, July 2007 Which services costs to include as costs of residential program? – Is it part of the residential program or a “mainstream” service? – Do people get it because they are clients of this program? How to measure costs of services for homeless people that are not linked to a residential program? – Utilization from program records or from HMIS – Need to learn program’s approach to defining a unit of utilization (e.g., an appointment, a period of service) and measuring its cost. Costs of Services

12. NAEH Conference, July 2007 Basic approach is to match HMIS client information to collection systems of mainstream programs Objective is to apply unit costs to the period before, during, and after homelessness. – How to do this depends on the mainstream data—how the program defines a unit of service and measures its cost Requires data sharing agreements to protect privacy and security of client information – Takes time – Takes political will—interest in the study – May be easier for a local study than for national researchers Cost Collection Approaches for Mainstream

13. NAEH Conference, July 2007