Key Elements of Effective Street Outreach
Key Elements of Effective Street Outreach
The following list of elements is derived from Core Elements of Effective Street Outreach to People Experiencing Homelessness, Closing the Gap: Homelessness to Housing Webinar Series- Street Outreach, and COVID-19 Homeless System Response: Housing-Focused Outreach. It represents the ideal, best-case outreach. Not all of these components are present in every case.
- Outreach workers:
- Outreach workers are knowledgeable about what resources exist in the community and who is eligible for which services.
- People with lived experience of homelessness and people with the racial, gendered, etc. identities of the clients they work with can be especially effective at outreach.
- Official outreach workers usually work for nonprofits that serve people experiencing homelessness or work for government agencies. Outreach workers may also work with mutual aid groups or volunteer groups.
- Outreach workers are knowledgeable about what resources exist in the community and who is eligible for which services.
- Housing focused:
- The end goal of outreach is stable permanent housing. Activities are in service of this goal; however, people who state they do not want housing are still supported and helped.
- Street outreach should use a housing first approach, and not introduce unnecessary preconditions to receiving housing. For example, outreach workers should not require the individual they serve to move into an emergency shelter before moving into housing.
- The end goal of outreach is stable permanent housing. Activities are in service of this goal; however, people who state they do not want housing are still supported and helped.
- Relationship based:
- The outreach worker builds a relationship with the person they serve, based on care, honesty, and providing goods and connections to services.
- Harm reduction:
- Outreach work uses principles of harm reduction by providing resources to clients to meet their immediate needs while waiting for shelter or housing.
- Coordinated:
- Outreach work should be coordinated across homeless services providers, because outreach is more effective if it’s on behalf of the entire community, not a particular organization. Communication across different organizations that provide outreach is key.
- Outreach workers/organizations are connected to other sectors likely to encounter people experiencing homelessness (such as police and first responders, child welfare, behavioral health, etc).
- Outreach can be connected to coordinated entry, depending on the organization conducting the outreach.
- Outreach work should be coordinated across homeless services providers, because outreach is more effective if it’s on behalf of the entire community, not a particular organization. Communication across different organizations that provide outreach is key.
- Person-centered:
- The individual experiencing homelessness has control over the engagement process and their choices are respected.
- If an individual chooses not to engage with services, their outreach worker will respect that choice, but continue to offer services and shelter.
- The individual experiencing homelessness has control over the engagement process and their choices are respected.
- Trauma-informed:
- A program or system that is trauma informed “realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system; and responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and seeks to actively resist re-traumatization” (SAMHSA, pg 9).
- Culturally competent:
- "Cultural competency is a set of behaviors, attitudes and policies that enable an individual, agency or institution to work effectively in diverse and cross-cultural situations" (Multnomah County, pg 4).
