ERIC Number: EJ1427477
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Jun
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1098-2140
EISSN: EISSN-1557-0878
Evaluating the Policy-Practice Gap in a Transitional Housing Program: An Innovation in Process Evaluation
Jessica Lauren Perez; Anaid Yerena
American Journal of Evaluation, v45 n2 p219-237 2024
In the United States, in 2013, 610,042 people were estimated homeless in one night. Improving the effectiveness of homeless assistance programs, particularly aligning programs' practices with their goals, is critical to serving this population. Using a theory that predicts homeless exits, this study presents an innovative, low-cost evaluation tool that can be used by a wide range of human service providers to conduct more frequent "in-house" process evaluations. The Gap Assessment of Policy and Practice (GAPP) tool streamlines process evaluations thus improving social programs. To test this tool's effectiveness, we compared the results of a traditional process evaluation and a GAPP tool evaluation of a homeless assistance program. Both evaluations revealed a consistent disparity between program activities and expressed goals. The GAPP tool is less time intensive and provides a useful road map for structuring a process evaluation for program providers, thus increasing program impact by encouraging more frequent and efficient self-assessments.
Descriptors: Homeless People, Housing Needs, Program Effectiveness, Evaluation Methods, Program Evaluation, Public Policy, Emergency Shelters, Housing
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A