studying the costs of homelessness midstream lessons from a national cost study jill khadduri...

Studying the Costs of HomelessnessMidstream Lessons from a National Cost Study

Jill KhadduriNational Alliance to End HomelessnessAnnual Conference, July 2007

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


• 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)


• 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


• 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


Example for a Particular Client

EmergencyShelter

for Singles =$2/night

TransitionalHousing

for Singles =$3/night

PSH for Singles =$4/night

Central Intakefor Singles =

$1/intake

Central Intake1 intake

$1

Emergency 30 nights

30 x $2 = $60

Transitional90 nights

90 x $3 = $180

Total client costs

$241+ + =


• 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


• 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


• 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


• 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


• 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


• 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

studying the costs of homelessness midstream lessons from a national cost study jill khadduri...

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