2013 Annual Evaluation Report Downtown Women’s Center Critical Time Intervention Project

To date the Downtown Women’s Center Critical Time Intervention program has enrolled an ethnically diverse group of 80 participants ranging from 22 to 75 years of age (mean age of 49 years).

• All participants met the HUD definition for chronic homelessness; 53% spent a night on the streets within the three months prior to program entry.
• 71% of CTI participants experienced an overnight hospital stay for medical reasons; 41% did so for emotional reasons.
• 58% of CTI participants have spent an overnight stay in a detention center or jail.

Early-Intermediate Outcomes

As of October 2013, 80 women completed the nine month CTI program. Outcomes at nine months include:

• 100% of participants remain stably housed. Participants did not spend any nights on the street, in a park/public place, in a shelter, or in a jail/prison.
• 100% of participants are currently linked to mental health and/or physical health services. Less than 10% of CTI participants were hospitalized for mental or physical reasons.
• Participants significantly increased contact with family members and reported high levels of satisfaction with the CTI program, staff and the outcomes they have experienced as a result of the program.
• Participants’ experienced statistically significant increases in independent functioning and levels of self-sufficiency.

These early findings suggest that women are experiencing real benefits from CTI that have an impact not only on housing stability, but potentially on their use of emergency health care systems, self sufficiency and quality of life. Preliminary findings from the client focus groups suggest that clients feel a close personal connection to their CTI case manager, which clients feel is key to their success in the program. However, there was also a sense that some women may find the transition out of intense case management challenging than others. For the final evaluation report, we will also explore individual differences in outcomes post-CTI.

Early Evaluation Challenges and Next Steps

The amount of data available for analyses was limited due to challenges from a prior evaluation system (i.e., incomplete evaluation protocols, incorrect measures, missing data). Harder+Company worked in close collaboration with DWC staff to improve data collection. This included the addition of measures that could be completed by case managers (e.g., SelfSufficiency Matrix) in order to reduce the burden on clients. The evaluation team also worked closely with staff and to clarify and monitor the administration schedule. Such changes were expected to provide richer data for the current reporting period.

Furthermore, the December 2011 planned enrollment of individuals living in DWC’s Jill’s Place was rescheduled to November 2012 due to construction delays. Additional clients from a third site (the Ford Hotel) who were not included in the original project proposal were included in the evaluation to offset some of the clients lost from the delays in the opening of Jill’s Place. The addition of this third site will allow evaluators to make site comparisons (owned and operated by DWC versus not owned and operated by DWC), which will be included in the final report (March 2014).

The Harder+Company evaluation team is currently conducting interviews with CTI staff and participants to document the implementation of CTI at DWC and Ford; preliminary findings from CTI participants are included in this report. Final analyses and findings for all quantitative and quantitative data will be presented in the final report in March 2014.