Using Continuous Quality Improvement to Refine Interventions for Youth at Risk of Homelessness

Youth and young adults with child welfare involvement face significant challenges in their transition to adulthood, challenges that increase their risk of becoming homeless. The Children’s Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families developed a multiphase grant initiative for planning, implementing, and evaluating comprehensive service models intended to prevent homelessness among youth and young adults with child welfare involvement.

This brief is part of a series that shares strategies used by organizations that serve youth and young adults who have been involved in the child welfare system and are at risk of homelessness. Collecting and sharing these lessons with organizations that have similar missions is one step in building an evidence base on how to meet the needs of this population. The brief describes key features of two agencies’ CQI processes, identifies how CQI helped the agencies refine interventions for youth, and offers general advice for other organizations that are interested in using CQI processes to improve interventions serving youth.

• CQI supports the agencies in tracking the initial implementation of their intervention, ongoing monitoring of fidelity to the intervention model, and assessing the results of adjustments to the intervention model.
• Each agency uses a data system to collect and present activity and outcome data at monthly meetings of key stakeholders and program partners. This process helps these teams identify implementation challenges and develop and test adaptations to address the challenges.
• Building strong relationships, anticipating communication needs, and solidifying buy-in among partners and stakeholders are essential to implementing the CQI system effectively.

Local evaluators working with two Children’s Bureau grantees responded to a set of questions regarding the CQI process they developed and implemented with grantee teams.

• Bring all partners to the table early, generate reliable data, and use a CQI process to encourage regular, evidence-driven discussions among the partners from the start.
• Anticipate needs for reporting to key stakeholders. Share findings with project partners and have ongoing discussions about what the results mean.
• Don’t be afraid to make changes to an intervention based on CQI findings.

Davis, Lanae and Laura Packard Tucker. (2020). Using Continuous Quality Improvement to Refine Interventions for Youth at Risk of Homelessness. OPRE Report Number 2020-03. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.