Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Making Homelessness Programs Accountable To Consumers, Funders And The Public, Dennis P. Culhane, David Eldridge, Robert Rosenheck, Carol Wilkins

Dennis P. Culhane

This paper discusses how different types of performance measurement can be used to improve the accountability of homeless programs to consumers, funders and to the public. A distinction is made between the kinds of data used in formal research projects and data that can be practically obtained in a practice setting. Consumer outcomes are discussed in terms of accountability to consumers, program outcomes in terms of accountability to funders, and systems outcomes in terms of accountability to the public. Cost-benefit analyses are also discussed as providing another critical dimension of accountability to funders and the public.