October 2015

QCOSSConscious Leadership to endHomelessness

Jessica Venegas

Director, Strategic Partnerships

Umuntu ngumuntu ngamantu.

I am a person through other people. My humanity is tied to yours.

— Zulu Proverb

Leadership Practice

Marshall Ganz, Kennedy School 2014

Shared Structure

• Behavioral Economics

• Movements/Campaigns are about change

and this book teaches you the science of

changing things

• Motivation + Data + Path Clearing =

Change

• Was used as the playbook for the 100,000

Homes Campaign

• Used Switch to ask the right questions in

designing campaign components

April 21, 2023page 5 /

Shared Structure - Campaign

Theory of Change:•Scale is not achieved through strict replication, but through adaptation and conversation. The central task of scale is to create a well functioning infrastructure for a movement to share learning around promising early innovations.

•Create a movement around a measurable, time-bound goal– Build a community of learners who are not merely connected to each other,

but also accountable to each other– Use a shared sense of urgency and belonging to drive change at scale

•Invest in communications and storytelling– To act at scale, but also to speak at scale– Public policy is not separate from public discourse– Galvanize public support with a new story about what is possible

Shared Structure - Campaign

• Leverage transparent data for improvement, not merely observation

- Measure the solution, not just the problem

- Use performance across communities to identify bright spots in real time

Shared Action - Know Everyone by Name

• Registry Week– Volunteers walk the streets block by block to gather person-specific information

about their homeless neighbors. – Communities use this by-name data to prioritize the most vulnerable for

available housing and to advocate for targeted resources.

Shared Action - Problem solving

Shared Action - Zero Hero Problem solving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rai6HPuJKnQ&feature=youtu.be

Shared Strategy -Focus on the Most Vulnerable

• Communities primarily target chronically homeless Americans:– Comprise just 18 percent of the US homeless population– Consume over 60 percent of all homeless service dollars– Live 27 years fewer on average than their housed counterparts

Portion of Homeless Population Portion of Resources Consumed

Shared Strategy - Housing First

• Communities move chronically homeless individuals directly into permanent housing with accompanying supportive services:– On average, 84% of individuals remain stably housed – Service costs drop dramatically, even including the cost of housing

2.68

0.42

0.97 2.14

1.28

Public services cost for100,000 homeless

Service cost savings by housing100,000 homeless

Operating costs— supportive Services

Capital costs— housing facility improvement

Net cost to public agencies

Net savingsto public agencies

3.42-37%

US dollars (billions) adjusted for 2013 equivalent

Shared Strategy - Real Time Data for Improvement

• We must use data for improvement, not merely for judgment– Must be granular and frequent enough to make real-time improvements– Must be widespread enough to identify best practices and bright spots– Must be personal enough to humanize the issue and change the story

Shared Strategy – Transparent High Level Dashboard

[46%][48%][35%]

[52%]

[7%]

CHRONIC: 46% on track VETERAN: 35% on track

Shared Story

Shared Story

Shared Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM-fxPrSZZ8

Shared Story – Your turn

Shared Relationships - Partnerships

Shared Relationships – Diffusion of Innovation

Shared Relationships - Zero: 2016 Team25 staff, across 12 cities

Leadership Practice

Marshall Ganz, Kennedy School 2014

Conscious Leadership – thank you!

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS3iB47nQ6E&feature=youtu.be

The Problem:Homelessness - Chronic & Veteran

April 21, 2023page 24 /

The Problem:Homelessness – Chronic & Veteran

• We haven’t solved it:

– 85,000 chronically homeless individuals

– 50,000 homeless veterans

• It’s deadly:

– Reduces life expectancy, on average, by 27 years

• It’s costly not to act:

– We are spending 30 to 40% more, per person, than we need to

– Missing out in over a billion in savings by eliminating homelessness

• It’s immoral not to act:

– We know what works to end homelessness.

– It is solvable

Our Aim: Get to Zero

April 21, 2023page 26 /

The Aim:Get to Zero

• Work intensively with a targeted group of communities from across

the nation to do whatever it takes to end veteran homelessness by

Dec. 31, 2015 and chronic homelessness by Dec. 31, 2016.

• Create a tipping point to guide ALL communities to end chronic and

veteran homelessness

• Leave behind coordinated systems which can effectively end

homelessness for everyone as well as maintain “zero”

April 21, 2023page 27 /

Target Audience:

• Multi-agency, community-based teams with a shared goal to end veteran and

chronic homelessness

– Continuum of Care (CoC), VA Medical Center, Public Housing Authority, Data

lead.

– Local Initiative leader, Providers, Health/Behavioral Health Systems

• Application Process: had to meet threshold, make commitments

• Communities applied between August-October 2014

• 71 communities selected in November 2014, including 4 states

• Communities launch participation at end of January 2015

April 21, 2023page 28 /

Target Audience:Threshold for Participation

• Commit to public, time bound goal

• Agree to shared definition of “zero”

• Able and willing to report housing placement data monthly

• Agree that if they fail to report for 2 months in a row, they have opted

out of the initiative

• Agree to have performance data shared publicly

• Establish community specific measures using shared methodology

• Agree to adopt specific evidence informed practices

• Key local leaders sign MOA, agreeing to threshold criteria

• Commit to working in the spirit of innovation, spread, and fun

   

Zero: 2016 Theory of Change

All communities in Zero: 2016 will end veterans

homelessness (by 12/31/15) and will end

chronic homelessness for individuals (by 12/31/16).

Optimally functioning Zero: 2016 Team

Build a creative, connected and committed movementIncrease capability of local

leaders

Improve Housing Placement Performance