LFA is conducting an evaluation of the implementation of the Housing First program in Santa Clara County. Supported by the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, the Housing Industry Foundation, and the Sobrato Family Foundation, Housing First is a partnership of Emergency Housing Consortium (EHC), InnVision, and the Santa Clara County Housing Authority. The goal of Housing First is to rapidly re-house first-time homeless families and provide them with home-based case management services to stabilize their living situations and prevent recurrence of homelessness. LFA is documenting the implementation of the Housing First Initiative in Santa Clara County, evaluating outcomes experienced by participating individual families who acquire permanent housing and receive case management support through the Housing First Initiative, highlighting best practices and lessons learned in implementing Housing First; and assessing the overall impact of the Housing First Initiative on homelessness and the system of care for homeless families in Santa Clara County.

In May 2004, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation launched the Shifting Gears Initiative: Fast Track to Housing for Bay Area Homeless Families. The Initiative focuses on working with Bay Area homeless service providers to assist them in making the shift from an approach that centers on emergency shelter and transitional housing to one that focuses on the rapid rehousing of homeless families. The Initiative brings nine Bay Area providers together in a collaborative learning model. Eight times throughout the duration of the Initiative, service providers convene with Schwab staff to hear speakers, discuss projects, and share challenges, ideas, and best practices. In addition, for each participating organization, Schwab funds a two-year project aimed at creating long-term solutions to homelessness. These projects center both on internal change (providing rapid rehousing services to families, and creating organizational “buy-in” to rapid rehousing ideas and practices); and on external change (intervening directly to expand the supply of affordable or subsidized housing, and creating system-level change through policy advocacy or social marketing). The Schwab Foundation hired LFA to assess the progress of each agency’s project, as well as the success of the Initiative as a whole.