Homeless in RI: (Updated) First ROI report on programs, funding, results won’t be coming.

by Nancy Thomas, publisher

118 days until the first day of winter

Rhode Island never really had an Return on Investment (ROI) report. Something simple. That the average Rhode Islander, advocate, political leader, and homeless person could read and understand. A black and white example of the millions spent – and what worked – and what didn’t. Quick programs set up in crisis mode that were effective in a pinch (Cranston St. Armory) – or long standing programs that disappointed yet drained more millions by the week (NYLO Hotel).

It seemed common sense that there would be such a report every year. Yet, there wasn’t one. There may have been a big ol’ Excel data dump – maybe. And that’s important. But it’s not what we asked for – and it’s not what we need.

It seemed so obvious that one must exist that media folks started to ask for it – thinking it just might be one of those on-the-shelf docs we would have to file a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) to get a hold of, provide to the public, take questions about, and shine the light of transparency on.

That’s when the stuttering began – that, no, it seemed everyone was in constant crisis mode and a basic, black and white report, didn’t exist.

The media did what it does best. It asked for information. It asked that an ROI report be produced. Yes, we’ll do it. It asked when would it be produced. At the end of spring. And, now we’re here – a month away from fall. No report. So we asked, where is it?

It’s not coming. They can’t do it. Not this year.

Back in 2023, Stefan Pryor, the housing czar, promised a new report that would evaluate what has been done with the millions directed to homeless programs in the state. He, as well as Gov. McKee, said they would provide a public report with funds given, to which program, and how many people were served in finding housing.

Here is one interview, with Tara Granahan of WPRO, where Stefan Pryor, of RI Dept. of Housing, the new homeless housing czar, promised the report. Pryor said he would ask “how many folks exited to housing – how many were connected to services” – “we’re going to have data” – “we’ve got to hold ourselves accountable”. Granahan responded – “the places that we are funding, are you going to tell us dollar amounts sometime in the spring. We funded XYZ organization and here are the ABC results. The word “YES” came out of Pryor’s mouth – “you got it right – grants we’re making on my watch, on Governor McKee’s watch” – sometimes for the first time – we’re going to report on them (ROI) and we’ll make funding decisions based on this information.

Pryor said, “on our watch how is the money being spent…how do you perform…how did you do…on specific measures…”

Listen in at the 12:00 mark.

What’s with that audit, Governor, said Gene Valicenti on November 3rd, 2023:

Listen in at the 23:06 mark.

The Governor responded, “we are making them accountable – the information we’re getting – we’ll have the reviews on that to hold people accountable – this is our new agreement signed with the providers – they will give us a full accounting of how they spent the money, That’s NEWS!”, said McKee. “We send them a buck today, we want to know how they spent it. Gene – we’ll have that in early summer”.

We asked for the report

RINewsToday went to Rhode Island Dept. of Housing to ask for the report to be sent to us. But there is no report. We asked them to double check, because there was a transition going on with Stefan Pryor, and there must be a report.

The report isn’t done. And it won’t be done. If it’s done at all it might be in another year. We asked why.

Statement from RI Dept. of Housing:

“The Department is actively conducting the FY25 Consolidated Homeless Fund process, which involves both extending existing contracts and issuing new awards. This year, we’ve enhanced our scoring rubric by increasing the emphasis on data and performance metrics to better evaluate project effectiveness. Additionally, we’re introducing a performance report into our monthly reimbursement process to track key metrics such as the number of individuals served, the number with housing plans, and exits to permanent housing.”

We went back to RI Department of Housing to ask for clarification and what that statement actually meant in plain language. “What no one wants is a huge data dump,” we wrote. While we did this we let the Governor’s office know that RI Dept. of Housing was saying there isn’t a report – because of his statement that there would be. We did not hear back. But, when we received our response from RI Dept. of Housing, the Governor’s staff member was copied, so they are now aware, or were aware anyway.

Here is their response:

“As Department of Housing staff initially compiled vendor data for just such a report, they noticed variations in reporting among vendors that made it difficult to compare apples to apples and create a unified reporting format. As a result, the department is implementing better standardized reporting for the next contract cycle that integrates a performance report into our monthly reimbursement process.”

UPDATE: Also provided:

“There has been and will continue to be public reporting, but the Department of Housing has chosen not to compile a singular report for FY24, due in part to uniformity issues with data reporting across vendors. Please see the State Fiscal Recovery Fund reporting (dashboard & annual report attached– pages 70-75 for data related specifically to Homeless Infrastructure Projects and pages 99-105 for data related to Homelessness Assistance Projects) and the Housing Resources Commission annual report (attached) for examples of our ongoing public reporting on funding and outcomes. Our determinations for the FY25 Consolidated Homelessness Fund process are informed by this data. 

As we mentioned earlier, we are continuing to develop our processes and work with our providers to improve reporting on outcomes, such as implementing better standardized reporting for the next contract cycle that integrates performance reporting into our monthly reimbursement process.”

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Both reports provide exhaustive detail on the issues surrounding affordable housing, housing in general and funds given to homeless service agencies.

Point in Time Count, Rhode Island, January 2024:

This count notes a 34% increase in overall homelessness over 2023

Now what?

Stefan Pryor, housing czar has left. A search is on for a new replacement. Did “the vendors” have a clear set of information to communicate to RI Dept. of Housing? Did they understand how simple the data was? Did they drag their feet or submit convoluted data in the same way they refused to inform state agencies – and the Governor, himself, about the locations of homeless encampments?

The value of long form talk radio, TV interviews – getting around the word salad

While some can take swipes at talk radio, and long form TV interviews, the value stands strong in this example – and there are so many others. Plain talk. Yes’s and no’s. Promises kept. Promises not. Feet to the fire. Gentle nudges. Sometimes, not so gentle, when irate callers add their voice. One on one interviews can circumvent the type of word salad response from state agencies – or the FOIA chases.

Swelling problem

We can’t build housing fast enough. One massive mistake with the NYLO put a nix on hotel takeovers, though that may be in the future. Encampments are encroaching – even in our school baseball fields and behind outbuildings. Homeless going into apartment complex pools to wash. No Cranston Street Armory or large location as the weather chills.

Tents don’t work where there is winter. “Leave them there,” is not a plan. No longer can you say that, chant and walk around in circles without – an idea.

When the scarce room is available and a homeless person with an addiction problem “just says no”, where is the plan – for that?

Follow-up and follow-through

Contracts for homelessness services are being made in September/October. But no one knows what worked last year – or any year – in anything but an anecdotal, and sometimes political way. Jobs are at stake. Homeless numbers plummet, jobs servicing them plummet, too?

No Dignity

That’s what happened in Woonsocket when the creative out-of-the-box Dignity Bus which works in every other state was short-funded, and sits idle until the arbitrary date in October when new funding will open it again. Heck of a way to run a homeless state service. A bunch of people lost their jobs, too. Will they be around to start up again in October? Heck of a way to run a social service group.

We’re begging the question. We care. We want solutions. We want to know what’s working, and what isn’t. And if agencies who receive millions of dollars cannot provide the simple data asked for by Rhode Island Dept. of Housing to produce a report promised by them – and promised by the Governor of Rhode Island – then an October funding isn’t going to happen.

When you hold the dollars, you hold the power. We say send the agencies a form. Make it simple. Think Have them complete it. Give them 30 days. Then give the Rhode Island public its report that is easy to understand, up to date, and forward looking. It’s a starting point.

Winter is 118 day away.

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We thank RI Dept. of Housing for proving the two attached reports and statements

RINewsToday will begin a new series – written and unedited – by members of the community who are struggling with homelessness. Look for it to begin this week – and on a regular published basis.