What is current performance of the Concord Housing (In)Stability System?
The performance of the Concord Housing (In)Stability System can be described in a number of ways–outcomes for the beneficiaries of a system, effectiveness (user benefit), efficiency (ratio of output to inputs), stakeholder satisfaction, etc.
The numbers are difficult to come by. And every estimate comes with caveats–measurement errors and vaguely defined variables.
The annual Point In Time (PIT) count notoriously inaccurate. But annual data for New Hampshire as a whole show a pretty flat line since 2010.
Data can also be retrieved from the NH Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) run by the state Bureau of Housing Supports, specifically the Coordinated Entry (CE) Program which can allow a person to be entered into the regional queue for housing vouchers and other services (e.g. rapid rehousing, supportive housing, etc.). The CE numbers are challenged by data entry (getting homeless persons assessed and entered into the system) and data accuracy (removing person who have moved, died, found housing, etc.) issues. Nonetheless, CE enrolled figures suggest between 200-300 currently homeless persons in Concord and Merrimack County. Plus more living in hotels and other temporary accommodations.
What about other measures of system performance?
Possible measures include:
- Overall system costs, by agency sector (e.g. social service, medical, government, housing, etc.) and major homeless persons population segment (e.g. youth, family, Veterans, single persons, etc.).
- Rate of new homelessness
- Duration of homelessness
- Health outcomes for persons experiencing homelessness (well being indicators, health care access and utilization, etc.)
- Housing availability (by type of housing–market rate, workforce, affordable, transitional, supportive, etc.)
NH Collective Health Impact 