The London Housing Foundation is proud of the success of its IMPACT through Outcomes programme, which was highly commended in the 2008 Charity Awards.
The programme, which was led by Triangle Consulting on our behalf, encompassed the development and dissemination of:
Measuring outcomes in the homelessness sector
Kevin Ireland, the Foundation's executive director at the time, explained the thinking behind the programme: 'In my previous job, I was involved in trying to raise money for some very effective work from a particularly challenging person. Ultimately we couldn't get the money because we couldn't prove the benefit of what we were doing.'
When IMPACT through Outcomes began, in 2001, there was little understanding of outcomes in the homelessness sector beyond a few hard outcomes such as access to housing or employment. There were no systems or methods for measuring intermediate or soft outcomes, such as decreases in alcohol consumption or improvement in self-care. The general view was that it was simply not possible to measure client progress in any meaningful way.
As a result, it was impossible for homelessness organisations, funders and commissioners to identify which services and interventions worked and for whom. Significantly, although Outcomes information can be shared with funders to demonstrate achievements, its primary purpose is to enable learning and service improvement.
The first phase of the programme, therefore, focused on increasing understanding of outcomes and inspiring adoption of an outcomes approach – the aim of which is a continuous cycle of enquiry and service improvement based on factual information about what is being achieved.
Outcomes Star collection published and website launched
The next stage was to support the development of tools and embed outcomes measurement. This entailed commissioning Triangle Consulting to develop a new version of the Outcomes Star, a tool that had already proved its worth in improving the outcome focus of work with individual clients.
In 2006, with the support of Jellymould Creative, Triangle also produced a user-friendly collection of publications on using the Star, which formed the centrepiece of the outcomes-focused Homeless Outcomes website. The site was launched by the Foundation in January 2007 to ensure easy access to the substantial resources which were now available and to any future developments.
www.homelessoutcomes.org.uk
National take-up
The Outcomes Star collection has become the leading outcome measurement tool in the homelessness sector, downloaded over 7,000 times in 2007 and recognised by the Audit Commission and several central government departments.
The programme was also instrumental in the development of a national outcomes framework for the government’s Supporting People (SP) programme. This gives agencies considerable flexibility when delivering SP services, while providing meaningful outcome information to local and national government.
In 2008 the Foundation launched the Outcomes Star System: free online software facilitating use of the Star and providing reports to help organisations learn from the data gathered.
The future...
The Star has now developed a life of its own, having been adapted by various organisations for use with more narrow client groups, such as the Recovery Star used by the Mental Health Providers Forum.
In October 2008, the Foundation handed over the Homeless Outcomes website to Homeless Link. With our continued support they will be taking the lead in managing the website and the Outcomes Star System.