Section A: Program Goals

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Program Purpose

Find McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance information online at:
McKinney-Vento Act
or
Laws and Regulations - Homeless
Assistance - CPD - HUD

The purpose of the Supportive Housing Program is to promote the development of supportive housing and supportive services, including innovative approaches to assist homeless persons in the transition from homelessness, and to promote the provision of supportive housing to homeless persons to enable them to live as independently as possible.

You can find the program purpose in:

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Three Basic Goals

HUD has established three basic goals for each SHP project:

  1. To help program participants obtain and remain in permanent housing;
  2. To help participants increase skills and/or income. Meeting this goal will allow the participants to secure an income to live as independently as possible; and
  3. To help participants achieve greater self-determination. The condition of homelessness itself can be damaging to one’s self-determination; achieving a greater sense of self-determination enables the participant to gain needed confidence to make the transition out of homelessness.

Beginning in the early 1990s the NOFAs required all applicants to incorporate these goals into their project design. In the Annual Progress Report (APR) that grantees must file with HUD, grantees report progress in achieving these goals. Additional information on the Annual Progress Report is included in Section N Annual Progress Reports.

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Reporting on Success

In recent years in the annual funding competition, HUD has awarded points based upon the Continuum of Care’s (CoC’s) progress in reducing homelessness (see current NOFA). HUD anticipates continuing this practice in future NOFAs. This is measured by program participants’ success in moving to and maintaining permanent housing as reported in the most recent APR. HUD also assesses the extent to which participants successfully become employed and access mainstream programs.

These measures emphasize HUD’s determination to assess grantees’ performance in the prior program year and to determine if they are meeting the overall goal of the homeless assistance grants under which they are funded. Both housing and supportive services only projects are assessed using data submitted in the application and in the Logic Model.

For Permanent Housing projects, HUD assesses the percentage of all participants who remain in permanent SHP housing for more than six months. Based on responses to the APR question addressing “Participants who left and Participants who did not leave the program,” HUD asks applicants to calculate the number of participants who:

  • Exited the program during the operating year;
  • Exited the program during the operating year after having stayed in the program longer than 6 months;
  • Did not leave the program during the operating year; and
  • Did not leave the program during the operating year after having stayed in the program longer than 6 months.

Using this information, HUD calculates the percentage of participants who stayed in permanent housing for more than 6 months.

One factor in the 2007 funding decision, which HUD expects will continue in the future, is progress in reducing homelessness. This is measured by program participants’ success in moving to and maintaining permanent housing.

For Transitional Housing projects, HUD assesses the percentage of all participants who move to a permanent housing situation. Based on responses to the APR question on “Destination,” HUD asks applicants to calculate:

  • The total number of participants who left transitional housing projects during the operating year;
  • The number of participants who left transitional housing projects and moved to permanent housing; and
  • The percentage of participants that left transitional housing projects and moved to permanent housing.

Finally, HUD assesses the percentage of all clients in all projects who gained access to mainstream services and who gained employment. Based on responses to the APR questions “Amount and Source of Income at Program Entry and Exit,” HUD asks applicants to calculate:

  • The number of adults who left projects during the operating year;
  • The income at program entry of the adults who left projects during the operating year; and
  • The income at program exit of the adults who left projects during the operating year.

HUD uses these numbers to determine the percentage point difference between the number of adults at program entry with income from employment and the number of adults at program exit with income from employment.

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Establishing Performance Measures to Meet Goals

In order to meet the three basic program goals, each project must develop specific performance measures. These performance measures must include discussion of both housing and services developed as part of the Technical Submission following conditional approval of a project. Performance measures should relate closely to the overall objectives of the project as stated in the application. The performance measures are simply a quantifiable way of assessing progress toward achievement of objectives and desired outcomes.

Performance measures have three key components. They must:

  • Relate to outcomes. Rather than simply focusing on the services to be provided, the provider should have a broader vision of the next step for the participant;
  • Have a time frame for achievement; and
  • Be measurable - that is, include a number or percentage indicating a specific level of achievement.

The more clearly the performance measure is stated, the easier it will be to describe annual performance and meet APR requirements.

HUD’s Performance Goals Examples of Potential Performance Measures
Obtain and remain in permanent housing Of the 10 families entering the program, 70% will receive Housing Choice Vouchers at program exit.
Of the 80 families entering the program, 65% will remain in housing with Section 8 assistance for one year or more after program exit.
Increase skills and/or income Of the 100 participants entering the program, 80% who receive no benefits upon entry will receive entitlement benefits within six months.

38 of the 50 new participants will be enrolled in a job-training program by the 12th month of residency, and 80% of that group will complete the job-training program during their stay.

70% of the 50 graduates of the job-training program will hold a permanent job for at least three months after program exit.
Achieve greater self-determination Of the 25 new participants, 85% will meet at least one goal on their Individual Service Plans within six months of program entry.

Of the 25 new participants, 50% will meet more than one goal on their Individual Service Plans within six months of program entry.

Of the 88 new participants, 50% will open a savings account and will contribute 25% of their monthly income during their program stay.

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