Shaking up the Routine: How Seattle is Implementing Results-Driven Contracting Practices to Improve Outcomes for People Experiencing Homelessness - Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab

Executive Summary

Seattle’s budget for homeless services increased from $29 million in 2005 (in 2016 dollars) to $50 million in 2016. Yet homelessness has continued to rise—at an average rate of 13% per year between 2011 and 2016. In an effort to change this trend, the Seattle Mayor’s Office, the Human Services Department (HSD), and five service providers began a pilot project in August 2015 to reorient homeless services contracts to focus on performance (primarily permanent housing placements and housing stability) and address other limitations with the current contracting structure. The Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab (GPL) provided pro-bono technical assistance to the Seattle pilot project through Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities (WWC) initiative. There were two main components to the pilot: consolidating contracts and implementing results-driven contracting (RDC) strategies to focus contracts on performance goals.