Evaluation of Homeless Outreach Projects and Evaluation (HOPE)
Marion L. McCoy, Ph.D., Cynthia S. Robins, Ph.D., James Bethel, Ph.D., Carina Tornow, and William D. Frey, Ph.D.
October 2007
"In 2003, Congress appropriated funds for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to conduct outreach and application assistance to people who were homeless and to other under-served populations. SSA used these funds to develop and implement the Homeless Outreach Projects and Evaluation (HOPE) demonstration initiative. The Project HOPE demonstration provided funding for 41 HOPE programs across the nation to conduct outreach to people with a disability experiencing chronic homelessness. HOPE programs assisted eligible individuals with filing SSA disability benefit applications and accessing mainstream treatment and services (e.g., housing, mental health care). SSA provided information about the disability application process and ongoing technical assistance to HOPE programs. In 2004, Westat was hired to conduct an evaluation of the Project HOPE demonstration. This report discusses key findings and recommendations."
