Evaluation of Mission Australia’s Cairns homelessness services 2019.

Abstract

Mission Australia operates three services in Cairns designed to provide accommodation and case management support for individuals who have histories of chronic homelessness and/or rough
sleeping: Going Places Street to Home Homeless Program, Douglas House and Woree Supported Housing Accommodation.
The services work with clients at different points within their homelessness trajectory, all operating under a trauma-informed, strengths-based, culturally responsive model that aims to assist clients to build the skills they need to achieve housing stability, independence and social inclusion.

This report presents the findings of an evaluation designed to assess the effectiveness of these services in addressing the multiple complex needs of the largely Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander client group. The evaluation is multi-pronged, including analysis of quantitative survey responses gathered as part of Mission Australia’s standard Impact Measurement program over the 2017/18 period, in-depth interviews with staff members across the three services and a review of previous external evaluations which have focused on Going Places Street to Home and Douglas House