Local communities and philanthropic organizations across the country are working to end homelessness and a key component of that work is funding effective and impactful programming. To that end, Kaiser Permanente engaged the Urban Institute to support their efforts to more effectively select and fund grants and to measure the impact of those grants in improving the health of the communities they serve. Urban’s work was in two phases: (1) a landscape scan and assessment, which is the subject of this brief, and (2) the development of an impact framework and tools for health systems and philanthropic funders investing to end homelessness and improve housing outcomes to better measure performance and understand impact.
This assessment reflects the strong thought partnership and collaboration between the Urban team and our Kaiser Permanente colleagues. The brief provides findings from interviews with Kaiser Permanente staff and grantees and staff from other philanthropic entities working at the intersection of homelessness and health as well as from community feedback sessions and a literature review completed as part of the landscape scan and assessment phase. It focuses on learnings from these information gathering activities and research that are applicable to the broader field and, using Kaiser Permanente as an example, shows how these types of activities can inform development of a theory of change and impact framework.
Why This Matters
The goals of Urban’s project were trifold:
- Develop a refined theory of change to support the standardization and streamlining of Kaiser Permanente’s grantmaking selections for housing and homelessness programs under the Housing for Health focus area by prioritizing promising and evidence-based practices within the portfolio.
- Create actionable tools for selecting grantees, collecting data from grantees, and understanding impact.
- Help to strengthen grantmaking for the broader housing and homelessness field.
Upon finalization of phase I activities and the proposed Housing for Health Theory of Change, Urban and Kaiser Permanente partners moved to phase II of the project, focusing on the development of an impact framework for grantmaking selections, recommendations and tools for grantee reporting and measuring impact, and the creation of actionable tools based on stakeholder needs. Key components of toolkit are: (1) a revised outcomes table; (2) updated grant guidelines; (3) a prescreening tool for selection of grantees that includes incorporation of evidence; (4) recommendations for grantee performance measurement; and (5) a tool with advice on engaging people with lived experience of homelessness.
The corresponding toolkit “Outcomes-Aligned Grantmaking: A Toolkit for Funders in Housing, Health, and Homelessness” is available here.
