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Guest Blog authored by Nicole Moler and J-PAL North America's Laina Sonterblum, Senior Policy Associate. Originally published on the J-PAL Blog. With grant support from Google.org , the Bay Area Evaluation (BAE) Incubator supports Bay Area service providers with implementing and evaluating cash transfer programs to assess their impact on homelessness and housing stability. In part two of our BAE Incubator partner series, Compass Family Services reflects on their experiences as an Incubator partner . Nicole Moler, Impact Analyst, discusses how the BAE Incubator reinforces Compass’s culture of evidence and tells prospective Incubator partners to “go for it.” Compass Family Services is a community-based organization serving San Francisco families experiencing or at risk of homelessness. It has supported vulnerable San Franciscans for over 100 years. As a member of our Impact + Learning team, my main goal is to learn; to better understand the impact of our work and to iterate on programs to better serve our families. However, before the BAE Incubator, we didn’t have the expertise to understand our impact with the rigor of a randomized evaluation. When we applied to the BAE Incubator last summer, we hoped to take our evaluation capacity to the next level. Our goal was to take all of the information we had—all of the assumptions about what we thought we knew—and really test it using rigorous data. Our staff is very excited about the idea of cash transfers , and many believe that it will be the best thing for our families in rapid re-housing. We’ve had the opportunity to give small amounts of funds to some clients before and have seen the difference it can make but haven’t had the data to back up our observations. We are excited to explore randomized evaluation because we want to really know if cash transfers will work at a larger scale. At the same time, Compass has a desire to make sure the evaluation is done carefully, ethically, and rigorously. This is where J-PAL’s expertise comes in. As a naturally skeptical person, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from the BAE Incubator. Moreover, while we were excited to dig deeper into rigorous evaluation, we were also a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of taking on a randomized evaluation given the many moving pieces. Because of these concerns, I have really appreciated that the Incubator has been an intentional, steady process. From the beginning, the focus on simply determining feasibility made me feel comfortable. Since then, each subsequent component has assured me that we are building the right blocks. The training we received through the BAE Incubator provided the opportunity to get in the weeds about some of the more technical concepts related to both randomized evaluations and evaluation in general. We even shared some training materials with other programs at Compass, which helped reinforce the data-driven culture of evidence we’re building. We also took advantage of the opportunity to attend J-PAL’s week-long Evaluating Social Programs course, which sparked several additional RCT ideas. (For another time, perhaps!) The Incubator also includes regular, small group technical assistance sessions. When we meet with J-PAL staff members Amanda and Anisha , we have the chance to dig into questions specific to our design. They’ve helped us build confidence in both the feasibility of our project and our capacity to carry it out. They acknowledge that there can and will be challenges, but also that there are often ways to address them. The technical assistance has helped us think through potential unintended consequences of this project so that we can address them proactively. While there are times I feel as though we can’t do this, the next time we meet, I am reassured that we can. Through this engagement, we’ve really been able to sharpen our technical skills. We’re also learning how to ask the right questions to advance our evaluation goals, particularly when working directly with program staff. These tools help us not only think through the randomized evaluation we’re designing but also enhance our other work. We’ve been able to plant evaluation seeds across Compass’s many programs and spark conversations with staff about rigorous data. For any organizations thinking about applying to the J-PAL North America Housing Stability Evaluation Incubator , I say go for it! They have a deliberate, transparent, and thoughtful process focused on determining feasibility. And if a randomized evaluation of your program is not feasible, that’s okay! They’ll still help you add tools to your toolbox. J-PAL staff provide space for organizations to test out ideas and ask questions. Don’t be afraid: trust the process. Part one of this blog series explores existing evidence on cash transfers and highlights the need for further evaluation in the context of homelessness reduction and prevention in the United States. The Homelessness and Housing Stability team at J-PAL North America will be accepting Letters of Interest for the Housing Stability Evaluation Incubator from August 1–October 17, 2022. Public housing authorities, continuums of care, nonprofit organizations, and other service providers working to reduce and prevent homelessness are encouraged to apply.

Meet Clark Wininger, Assistant Program Director at the Compass Family Resource Center Clark Wininger is the Assistant Program Director for the Family Resource Center (FRC) at Compass, working to assist clients with drop-in and direct service needs. With a passion for social work and giving back, Clark came to Compass as a Case Manager with the FRC back in 2020 before stepping into his current position three months ago. Clark sits at a desk across from the entrance to 37 Grove and, from his desk, is positioned to know everyone and everything happening in the space. Clark and his team at the FRC are the first people most families will encounter when coming to Compass. The team fills out intake paperwork, runs assessments with families, and refers them to the appropriate programs within Compass and the community to address their housing, employment, childcare, parenting support, and other stability needs. In addition to providing a great level of detail and knowledge about these resources, Clark and his team also pass out diapers, groceries, and hygiene kits directly to families. With its location at the front doors of 37 Grove, the FRC team continues to greet families even after they progress through other Compass programs, building relationships that last years. This is one of Clark’s favorite parts of being in the FRC; it reflects the welcoming community that Compass cultivates. When he’s not at the front of Grove helping families receive services during drop-in hours, Clark likes to participate in the weekly group Music and Movement Class held for children from ages 0-5. He describes it as “Zumba for toddlers,” saying, “It’s so fun to walk by that room and see all the kids dancing and moving around. When I can, I hop in and it’s one of my favorite parts of the day.” The entire FRC team agrees that Music and Movement always brings a smile to all participants. The Family Resource Center’s success is due to the flexibility and adaptability of the entire team. FRC staff have to problem solve in a variety of different ways, and maintain a huge knowledge base of Compass and community services alike. “Every day looks different,” Clark notes, and “each client has a unique story that they bring to us.” Clark notes that his team does great work to bring families into Compass and create a safe and welcoming place to find stability. As a kid growing up in San Francisco, Clark always wanted to give back to his city. He served in the Peace Corps, stationed in the Dominican Republic, where he created youth programming on topics like health or the environment. After returning to his hometown, Clark saw how the pandemic displaced so many San Franciscans, and the stark presence of inequity at home and wanted to do something to help. Thank you Clark for your work to help families benefit from all of the services Compass has to offer!

This year brought some welcome news for the city of San Francisco: Preliminary data from the city’s 2022 Point-In-Time (PIT) count shows a 15% decrease in unsheltered homelessness across San Francisco since the 2019 count. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities that receive federal funding for homeless services to conduct regular counts of people experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness. These counts provide a helpful basis for comparison across communities, but there are also limitations to what the counts can capture. For one, PIT counts are a one-night snapshot of people estimated to be experiencing homelessness. PIT counts do not provide an annualized estimate of the number of people who cycle in and out of homelessness. For another, PIT counts hew to HUD’s definition of homelessness, so they center around a visual, street-based count and a shelter census on a single night. The counts do not include people who are living in overcrowded or doubled-up conditions, as many families do. The counts also tend to miss families and young people who are “hiding in plain sight” (e.g., families who are living in vehicles but doing so in more hidden locations). In San Francisco, the PIT count usually counts about 200 families experiencing homelessness, the overwhelming majority of them living in shelters on the night of the count. Other findings in this year's PIT Count include a 3.5% decrease in total homelessness, as well as decreases in youth and family homelessness. The number of people staying in shelters increased by 18% from 2,855 to 3,357 people. Furthermore, 43% of the homeless population was sheltered, an increase from 36% from the last PIT count, reflecting new investments in urgently needed shelter programs. To be sure, the City has invested heavily in reducing unsheltered homelessness over the past two years, using Proposition C funds alongside federal pandemic relief money, which funded the operations of shelter-in-place (SIP) hotels for people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. The 2022 preliminary PIT Count results “show that investments work, and change takes time,” according to Compass Director of External Affairs and Policy, Mary Kate Bacalao. It will take some time to see impact from the parallel investments the City is making in permanent housing and behavioral health. As Compass and other organizations work alongside the City to continue to address these issues, it is important that investments be sustainable for the service providers operating essential programs. “Program expansions must be funded at cost, and public grants and contracts must support a Bay Area living wage for frontline workers who show up every day for unhoused residents with complex health and mental health needs,” says Bacalao. Compass continues to work with City leaders on our shared goals to find a permanent long term solution to homelessness, by fulfilling the individual needs of all of the families we serve and, in the process, making San Francisco and the Bay Area a better place.

Last week, Compass along with community partners at Delivering Innovation in Supportive Housing (DISH), UCSF Citywide Case Management, and the city's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing held an event to announce the opening of a new permanent supportive housing building at 1321 Mission Street. This building will become Compass' first permanent supportive housing program and will house forty families in their own 3-bedroom apartments. Compass will provide on-site support services and children’s programming for families living in the building, which includes large communal event and working areas, a children's center, and a brand new communal rooftop deck. At the press event, Mayor London Breed spoke about the work being done by Compass and others to help move families towards stability. “We know we still have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be, but the opening of 1321 Mission helps move us in the right direction. Permanent supportive housing is an essential part of our long-term solutions to getting our unhoused families and individuals the resources they so desperately need," Mayor Breed said enthusiastically. After the event, Compass Program Director Joanna Garcia was busy giving tours of the building to the press. She and her team will operate out of the building's first floor, working directly with the families living on the floors above. Compass' Director of External Affairs and Policy, Mary Kate Bacalao, is especially excited about the new units and program. "Anyone who walks through the door with a key in their hand will know that they matter to their city and community. That is a strong foundation for people to build stability, raise their children, and grow in the direction of their dreams," said Bacalao, speaking from the podium. Compass Family Services is so excited to be able to support families in a new way and to help welcome these families into a new, more stable, chapter of their lives!

Juliana Dunn is the Bilingual Afterschool Program and After-Care Case Manager for Compass Clara House. Inside her classroom on the first floor of Clara House are desks that double as drawing spaces and white boards, a big green bean bag chair, and a large paper tree patterned with butterflies and reminderse space’s community norms. Juliana began at Compass as a Bilingual Case Manager with C-Work, Compass’ workforce development program, from its inception. At the start of 2022, she transitioned to her role at Clara House, where she runs the Cool Schoolers after school program, coordinates with schools and leading activities for her students year round. Juliana also supports families who have recently graduated from Clara House as an After-care Case manager, helping connect them to services and supporting them in their journey to stable permanent housing. Compass Clara House provides comprehensive care for the 13 families that reside at any given time within the program. The 6- to 18-month transitional housing plan helps families achieve their goals in all aspects of their lives. Juliana says, “the amount of friendships that form between residents. The tight knit-ness of it all” are what she loves about the program. “It’s an incredible community space and it really is a completely wrap-around kind of program.” Juliana points out the collection of skateboards in a corner of the room. The children at Clara House recently built their own skateboards and are learning to skate, as a way of building friendship and confidence. She says, “Those moments where [the kids] have big academic growth or social emotional growth” are some of her favorite parts of working at Clara House. When she’s not wearing so many different hats at Compass, Juliana spends time with her dog, Bagel, or enjoying her neighborhood in Oakland and all it has to offer. She’s especially excited about a community garden there. Houston native Juliana has always been involved in community organizing and social justice. From working on research related to art and prison abolition to helping support migrant farm workers, Juliana realized that direct service was the community oriented space she thrived in. Thank you Juliana for all your work at Compass!

Written by Marta Alvarez, an Associate Family Therapist with Compass Behavioral Health Services. When you need the restroom do you go right away or do you hold it for a while? Your response speaks to how well you practice self-care. In life, sometimes people are conditioned to ignore their needs. However, becoming aware of your needs and creating space for yourself to take care of yourself can enhance your mental well being. Self-care does not need to be costly; rather simple activities like putting lotion on your skin, taking a walk in the park, and drinking water have the ability to make your day brighter. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and in this month, and all others, you can work to make yourself the priority and create a space of self-care. Love is an essential human need from birth to the end of one’s life. Dr. Gary Chapman identifies the 5 love languages people tend to express. It is important to know which one or two are your preferred languages in order to incorporate this type of care into your self-care practice. People with the love language “words of affirmation” are people who greatly enjoy kind, uplifting, or affirming words. If words brighten your day, try journaling, listening to music, or writing poetry. The second love language is “acts of kindness,” which are helpful acts of services of support. Self-care activities for this language could consist of making your favorite food or planting your favorite type of flower. “Quality time” is an easy love language to practice. This can be listening to yourself, discovering something new about yourself, or doing your favorite things by yourself. The important element here is connecting with yourself. The fourth love language is “gifts.” People who enjoy this language can be as happy with an inexpensive and thoughtful gift as with one that costs a pretty penny. To incorporate this into your self-care practice you can gift yourself anything from something small like a flower in the park to a new shirt in your favorite color. You can create something for yourself such as a card or small trinket. The last language is “physical touch.” When practicing physical touch in self-care, try doing one of the following activities: give yourself a massage, dance, style your hair in a new way, hug yourself, go for a run. It is important to create space to love the person you will be with your entire life- you! It is important to know that there is no love language that is better than another. They are simply preferred manners of expressing and receiving love. You don't have to wait for someone to give you love- create space to love yourself! In this month of Mental Health Awareness, let’s focus on our well being by caring for ourselves in a way that fills us with love and affection without the need to depend on others. #speakyourlove

The 2020 holiday season was filled with inspiring and generous support for Compass families. This year has been incredibly challenging for the homeless and at-risk families Compass serves. As the pandemic worsens, our families are among those most impacted with loss of employment and lack of access to essential resources. Many of our families struggle to afford rent, food, childcare and basic necessities. In our 23rd year of Adopt-a-Family, we knew that this year would be different from previous years. In addition to our traditional Adopt-a-Family where donors physically drop off gifts for their adopted family, this year we offered options to provide digital gift cards or shop online and have gifts directly sent to a family in need. Early data showed Compass families owed a combined $550,000 in back rent. To address this urgent need, we decided to offer donors the option of helping their adopted family with rental debt in addition to fulfilling their gift wish lists. “We knew early in the pandemic that back rent debt was going to put families at risk of eviction this winter,” says Abbey Leonard, Director of Development and Communications at Compass Family Services. “Our data shows that families lost an average 40% of their income. Many families are still not able to get back to work full-time and this debt will threaten the stability they’ve been working toward with us.” The response to our call for help has been incredible. Compass Family Services matched over 600 donors with families in need and gifts are currently being distributed to the adopted families. With the generous support of individuals, families, community groups and corporate teams, over $400,000 has been raised to help pay off rental debt for Compass families. Compass client families who will benefit from this back-rent relief consist of previously homeless families who were helped into housing, and families at imminent risk of becoming homeless. Checks are already in the mail to landlords so that no family will fall into homelessness during this crisis. Here is a message from a Compass client family: “As an employee with the San Francisco Unified School District, I did not work this past summer. So, my rent got backed up and it has taken me months to catch up with my landlord. But, thanks to you, Compass Family Services for your staff and your programs that have helped us to pay our rent and really enjoy Christmas. We truly appreciate you and wish each and every member of the Compass Family Services staff, and your donors a very Merry Christmas.“ We are so grateful to our donor community, Compass staff and volunteers for their extraordinary effort and dedication to make this year’s Adopt-a-Family project a success! From generous donor contributions to Compass staff and volunteers delivering gifts, together, we are making the holidays merry and bright for our most vulnerable families. Thank you! If you missed out on participating and are looking forward to the 2021 holiday season, please make sure you’re on our email list for events and updates! You can sign up with the button below.

Community Support Drives Outcomes Since the beginning of the pandemic, in addition to our comprehensive programs focused on shelter, housing, childcare, mental health services and employment support for thousands of San Francisco children and parents, Compass has expanded our offerings to meet needs that began to emerge at the beginning of the health crisis - emergency supplies, COVID-related rental assistance, hot meals and exponentially more groceries and food pantry items, technology for distance learning and more. It takes at least a village to support families during this unprecedented time of need and we’ve seen our village rise to the occasion through an immeasurable amount of community support and generosity. Time and again, Compass volunteers showed up to make a difference for our families, whether through packing groceries, delivering furniture to a recently housed family’s new home, or helping organize clothes and toys at our 37 Grove service hub. Volunteers also helped launch innovative new initiatives to support Compass families. Our Homework Helpers project connected volunteer tutors with Compass children for weekly virtual tutoring, a meaningful supplement of academic support during distance learning. There is no task too small and every minute volunteers spent to support Compass meant more time for staff to provide critical direct services to families in distress. Last fiscal year, over 600 volunteers contributed over 10,000 volunteer hours to support Compass’ mission to help homeless and at-risk families achieve lasting stability and well-being.

Claudia is a single mother with two young children in San Francisco. She had a difficult time returning to the workforce due to a lack of available childcare and was stuck on waitlist after waitlist with no end in sight. A friend recommended Compass to Claudia and she was connected with Leticia, a case manager at Compass Childcare Support Services, who provided Claudia with hands-on support to determine how best to meet her childcare needs, apply for childcare subsidies, visit childcare providers and explore her childcare options. With Leticia’s support, Claudia was able to secure childcare for her children and started working as a housekeeper. Claudia then joined C-WORK in order to build new skills and find more sustainable employment. Prior to joining C-WORK, Claudia did not know how to use a computer and had an email account she rarely used. With support from bilingual workforce case managers, Jackie and Juliana, Claudia was able to increase her computer literacy skills and build her confidence. Claudia attended training and networking events through C-WORK, and her Compass case managers connected her with a local entrepreneurship program called CHALK that is providing her with skills to start her own business selling handmade jewelry from Oaxaca and supporting indigenous Oaxacan artisans. By starting her own small business, Claudia hopes to eventually earn a sustainable wage and have more time to spend with her kids. Thanks to the incredible support from the team at C-WORK, Claudia has been empowered to achieve her goals and feels more than ever that her dreams are within reach.

Despite the rollout of vaccines and the beginnings of economic recovery, many Compass parents struggled to find stable work. The industries many had previously worked in, such as tourism and hospitality, were greatly affected by the pandemic and slow to return to pre-pandemic levels of operation, offering limited opportunities and fewer work hours. To better support parents in finding sustainable work with livable wages, Compass launched a new workforce development initiative called Compass Workforce Development & Resources, or C-WORK, in January of 2021, within Compass Family Resource Center. Dedicated workforce case managers help participants address and remove barriers to employment, identify employment pathways, connect with training providers and assist our client parents to ultimately secure quality employment. Compass’ comprehensive workforce programming includes one-on-one case management, career coaching and a series of virtual workshops focused on topics such as job applications, soft skills, resume building, interview preparation and financial empowerment. Bilingual workforce case managers also host weekly virtual drop-in hours during which participants can receive support in their job search and address any barriers they are facing. Additionally, C-WORK collaborates with local organizations and businesses to connect Compass families with job opportunities and resources through virtual jobs fairs, career panels, workshops and more. A major challenge that many Compass families face in finding employment is citizenship status. Many families are undocumented and do not qualify for employment in the traditional workplace. Compass is exploring ways to support undocumented families in finding stable work via various creative strategies, such as helping parents acquire Right to Work documents or supporting alternative employment pathways, such as entrepreneurship. C-WORK Equity Pilot for Black Families In June 2021, Compass was awarded a $300,000 grant from San Francisco’s Office of Employment and Workforce Development to provide workforce development services and address disparities in employment and housing for low-income Black families in San Francisco. According to the 2019 Point-in-Time Count of homeless individuals in San Francisco, despite comprising only 6% of the overall population, Black or African Americans made up 37% of those identified as homeless. The C-WORK Equity Pilot for Black Families aims to remove barriers to employment and increase wages for San Francisco’s Black families by hiring staff with deep connections to Black communities to provide significant focused outreach and support to Black community members, ensure culturally-responsive workforce development services, and build relationships with Black-owned businesses.