Commissioning Specialist Homelessness Services for Outcomes

Specialist homelessness services deliver a range of services which help people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness to achieve safe and stable housing.

From 2018, DCJ will be progressively implementing a commissioning approach to contracting homelessness services, which means:

• shifting the focus from the services a provider offers to the outcomes they achieve for their clients by having agreed outcome measures and data to track these
• using data to inform continuous improvement to meet client needs

This will put clients at the centre of the contracting approach.

The transition to commissioning for outcomes will be underpinned by these principles:

• Collaborative, transparent design and implementation
• Clarity on the role of homelessness services
• Ongoing capability development
• Contracts must include clearly defined, measurable and attributable outcomes
• Performance management is outcomes-focused and data driven.

On 1 June 2021, DCJ released an updated version of the SHS Program Specifications June 2021, which includes:

• Appendix 1 SHS Outcomes Framework Guide
• Appendix 1.1 SHS Program Logic
• Appendix 1.2 Outcomes Framework Toolkit

These documents will be progressively implemented over the course of 2021-24 contracts for SHS service providers.

How did we get here?

• In May to June 2018, DCJ consulted with the sector and peaks to identify draft outcome measures and indicators for pilot testing.  These were mapped to the Human Services Outcomes Framework (HSOF).
  
  In September 2018 a summary of the consultation findings was released, including agreed client outcomes measures and indicators for piloting with service providers.

In early 2019, DCJ held consultation workshops with the homelessness service sector to clarify how data will be used for monitoring provider, program and system performance.

• From January to July 2019, the SHS Outcomes Based Commissioning (OBC) Pilot was run across NSW with 17 service providers. Providers trialled the use of the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) and Client Outcomes Survey (COS) with all new consenting clients for the 6 month period, collecting data and valuable learnings on the use of these tools to monitor a client’s progress in 3 key outcome areas:
  • Safety
  • Housing
  • Wellbeing

The final evaluation report of the Outcomes Based Commissioning (OBC) pilot was released in December 2019.

Sector Feedback – SHS Program Documents

• Between October and December 2019, service providers submitted feedback on key program documents for the specialist homelessness services program, including the draft Program specifications, draft Program Logic and draft ASES Policy Framework.
• View a summary of the feedback.
• DCJ consulted further with specialist homelessness services in 2020 and 2021 to finalise the outcomes framework that clarifies what data will be collected and how this data will be used for monitoring provider, program and system performance. Download the What we Heard (March 2021) document.