A new evaluation plan has been announced for a partnership whose aim is to end homelessness in Chicago.
The Chicago Community Trust has launched the assessment of Chicago’s Plan to End Homelessness which, over a two-year period, will examine the efforts of the plan to get families and individuals off the streets of Chicago.
The Plan to End Homelessness was launched in 2003 and since then has attracted over $76 million.
"The Plan to End Homelessness holds the promise of a major breakthrough in the way we work together to ensure that everyone has permanent housing," Terry Mazany, president and chief executive officer of The Chicago Community Trust, said. "In these trying economic times when resources are scarce it is especially important to evaluate and strengthen Chicago’s plan to help more people move from homelessness into stable and productive lives."
Though it says there is no definitive number, the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) has cited a one-day census done in 2007 by the city of Chicago which counted 5,922 homeless people in the city.
During the evaluation, 600 people will be followed for a year as they maneuver through the city’s homeless system. People also will be interviewed in an effort to determine how well their needs are met by the system.
A service inventory also will be created in order to determine how services for the homeless have changed since the plan was instituted six years ago. The evaluation will also examine the success that has been achieved in instituting "best practice models."
The evaluation is being funded by a number of public and private organizations, including: The Chicago Community Trust, the city of Chicago, the Michael Reese Health Trust, the McCormick Foundation, and the Polk Bros. Foundation.
Experts from the University of Chicago and Loyola University Chicago, along with the CAEH, will head the evaluation.