Beyond Shelter's Institute for Research, Training and Technical Assistance provides individualized and affordable consulting, workshops, trainings and technical assistance to nonprofit and government agencies upon request. Institute staff conduct needs assessments, design service delivery mechanisms and assist agencies in the adaptation of service methodologies.

Services range from program planning and design to program implementation and capacity building to performance measurement. Consulting services are available by contract on a short-term and/or ongoing basis, depending upon the needs of individual clients.

Consulting services are focused on, but are not necessarily limited to, the following three areas:

Housing First For Homeless Families (Rapid Re-housing)

• Adapting shelter programs and continuums of care to promote rapid re-housing
• Developing policies and procedures for single-agency and multi-agency models
• Developing affordable housing resources
• Home-based case management after the move into permanent housing
• Innovative funding strategies for staffing and housing subsidies
• Screening and assessment tools and practices
• Addressing the needs of hard-to-serve and chronically homeless families
• Employment strategies for the hard-to-employ
• Performance measurement and planning for outcomes

Alternative Emergency Shelter Models: Master-Leased Apartments As Shelter

• Cost benefit analyses of traditional and alternative shelter models
• Converting motel voucher programs to scattered-site, apartment-based emergency shelter
• Funding strategies for alternative shelter models
• Outreach and recruitment of private market landlords
• Transition-in-place options
• Effective services delivery in scattered-site shelter models
• Developing program protocols (leasing, property management, services, etc.)

Service-Enriched, Affordable Housing

• Financing and development
• Property management and building operations
• Resident services coordination
• Supporting families with special needs, including households with disabilities
• Community-based partnerships to promote resident social and/or economic well-being
• Resident empowerment
• Collaborating for success: property management, services staff, and residents
• "Neighborhood-Based Services Coordination"

Recent Comments by Agencies and Localities
Assisted by Beyond Shelter

"When the City of Austin funded our Rapid Rehousing Program, we had a daunting task of program development ahead of us. It was important to have a trusted source of information regarding best practices that we could turn to. The forms, templates, and advice that have been provided to us have not only saved us time, but have helped us to develop our program in a way that we know works based on Beyond Shelter's extensive experience... The on-site case management training was of top-notch quality and helped to ground the nine agencies in our collaborative in effective strategies for ensuring client and program success. We believe that this sort of accessible, expert technical assistance and training is crucial to support the development and expansion of Housing First programs around the country."

-- Beth Atherton, Executive Director,

Caritas of Austin, Austin, TX

"We sought the services of Beyond Shelter due to the agency's excellent reputation of providing services and trainings. We identified a critical need in introducing local providers to best practices around rapid rehousing and we felt the training provided by Beyond Shelter's Institute helped fill this need. Staff customized the training based on the specific needs of our community. We found the staff of Beyond Shelter a pleasure to work with." 

                        -- Jennifer Moore, Director, Community Impact Council                                     United Way of the Midlands, Columbia, SC

Beyond Shelter's Institute staff are available 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PST), Monday through Friday, to respond to agency inquiries about the above services.

To contact us, please call the Institute at (213) 252-0772 or send an e-mail to Institute@beyondshelter.org.

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