coping with the crisis by investing in user-involvement and quality? some lessons from bottom-up...

9th European Research Conference

Homelessness in Times of Crisis

Warsaw, Friday 19th September 2014

Coping With The Crisis by

investing in User-involvement

and Quality of services? Maarten Davelaar, NL

Insert your logo here




Summary

Activation Centres

Economic crisis

Why user-involvement in times of crisis?

Participative Audits of services: goals,

steps, results

Conclusion




Activation Centres Homeless people, clients of psychiatric

care, addiction care

offering meaningful activities: arts,

carpentry, bicycle repair, second hand

shops, catering, restaurants, cleaning

facilities & public spaces, computer

training

collective day centres & individualised job

training / education




Crisis

Local austerity measures: budget cuts

Decline in demand

Decline in unskilled jobs

Uncertainty: unprecedented

decentralisation of reduced (- > 25%)

budgets & responsibilities




User-involvement? Active clients = better outcomes

Practice what you preach: expand

participation of users to management &

quality control

Transparency counts

Join forces as clients & services: stand

stronger in the face of external pressure?




‘Participative Audits’ - method

Since 2008; 7 projects, 10-14 months

A user-led, ‘bottom up’ evaluation of

services aiming to

empower clients

asses & improve the quality of services

foster a ‘culture of participation’ in services

detect gaps in local policies & services




Participative-audit, steps (1)

1. Build a client-audit team, create

commitment

2. Train clients: empower, improve skills

3. Client-team interviews fellow clients

4. Team suggest improvements to staff and

management




Participative-audit, steps (2)

5. Management & staff implement changes

6. Client-team checks improvements &

gives/refuses certificate

7. Communicate, celebrate & cooperate




Some facts Audit The Hague

13 months, 16 team members/co-

researchers, 2 ‘street consuls’, 1 trainer, 2

researchers, 21 members of staff &

managers, 8 services

191 interviews with users of activation

services

> 3 improvements per service




Improvements

Food: quality, distribution, price

Dealing with aggression

New life for client councils

Individual support

Excursions

Portfolio




Impact (1)

Personal success individual participants

A voice to the ‘silent majority’ of clients

Sustainable changes in services: food,

activities, rules, client councils

intrinsic changes in behavior: ‘culture of

participation’




Impact (2)

New information on: gaps in supply of

services, effective ways of motivating

people,

Fuel for city-wide cooperation

‘User-knowledge is essential for a genuine

assessment of the effectiveness of

services’




Conclusion & take home

message

Empowerment matters: helping people

helping themselves

User-involvement = motivated clients &

better quality = more effective services /

better outcomes for society

Next level of user-involvement: moderates

crisis




More information?

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

coping with the crisis by investing in user-involvement and quality? some lessons from bottom-up...

Government & Nonprofit