Public Policy Associates (PPA) was contracted by Homeless Solutions for Boulder County (HSBC) to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the HSBC service system. The goal of the evaluation was to gain a holistic understanding of the system’s assets and challenges.
HSBC is an innovative approach to homelessness that involves multiple government entities (including Boulder County, the City of Boulder, the City of Longmont), the nonprofits working to impact homelessness, and other external partners. The system employs a Housing First approach to ensure that efforts are low barrier and housing is accessed quickly.
This evaluation used a mixed methods approach to achieve a rich understanding of both the snapshot of quantitative homelessness data, as well as the qualitative and contextual reality of people experiencing homelessness in Boulder County and the organizations that serve them. Through collaboration with representatives of HSBC, it was determined that this evaluation should focus primarily on housing and support, and crisis response. The evaluation included quantitative analysis of at least two years of homelessness data, including an analysis of funding data from those years; gathering qualitative data from key stakeholders and analyzing it for themes and insights; and a literature review to identify best practices, evaluate evidence for proposed interventions, and attempt to compare HSBC to like entities.
In this final report (linked below), PPA summarized the findings of that evaluation and offered recommendations for strengthening HSBC and homeless services in the county.
