Under a September 2011 contract with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Abt Global has been conducting an evaluation of the Hilton Foundation’s Chronic Homelessness Initiative with the goal of answering the overarching question: Is the Chronic Homelessness Initiative an effective strategy to end and prevent chronic homelessness in Los Angeles County?

The evaluation is designed to provide both interim milestones related to improving the systems for serving people experiencing chronic homelessness and estimates of the effect of permanent supportive housing (PSH) on its residents and on the problem of chronic homelessness.

Since the beginning of the Chronic Homelessness Initiative, the Foundation has distributed more than $42.3 million in multi-year grants to 21 nonprofit groups working in L.A. The L.A. grantees include nonprofit groups working on regional systems change and capacity-building, as well as local groups providing direct services to chronically homeless individuals, PSH developers, and public policy advocates.

In this report, the third of the annual updates, the evaluation team documents the significant progress that has been made on each of the six primary Hilton Foundation Chronic Homeless Initiative goals. Many of the five-year goals have been exceeded, and most others are on track to be reached within the next two years. These accomplishments are impressive; even more notable is the extensive systems change that has occurred, which promises to ensure continued success.

Read more about the Chronic Homelessness Initiative.