 SOCIAL ISSUE
Prior to 2021, the South Australian homelessness funding, like most homelessness systems around the country, was divided between multiple different service providers who weren't incentivised to work together as one system. The three key limitations of the system were:
CLIENT CHALLENGE The South Australian Housing Authority (SAHA) sought to redesign the homelessness system in order to reduce the number of those at-risk of entering homelessness and the length of time people are in the system. To do this, SAHA divided its jurisdiction into five discrete regions and called on social service providers to develop solutions. In the Adelaide City and South region, Baptist Care SA, Lutheran Care, Mission Australia, The Salvation Army and Sonder came together to form the Toward Home Alliance. The challenge for the Toward Home Alliance was to redesign the homelessness system so that service users received a tailored and individualised response. Resources, accommodation and services needed to be aligned to the outcomes for each of the service user groups
The challenge of service design was compounded by the prevalence of factors that contribute to homelessness such as mental health, physical health, disability, drug and alcohol and life trauma - requiring the intervention to holistically address these issues too. THE ROLE LATITUDE NETWORK PLAYED Latitude Network played a central role in supporting the Toward Home Alliance. The process involved uniting a diverse set of national, state, local and Aboriginal-run service providers toward a common goal of reducing homelessness in a defined geographical region. The key functions of the Latitude engagement included:
THE IMPACT The first impact was that the innovative proposal was accepted by the South Australian Government with the Alliance winning the funding for Adelaide city and South. The funding changed on July 2021, and as with any significant system change, there are always lots of elements to work through. The team has formed well together and built a strong culture of collaboration, but it is still early days to work out how well the elements are working and how best to refine and iterate them. We will keep an eye out on the Toward Home progress and now doubt the challenges of making progress.   Reinventing homelessness preventionIn an effort to deliver better outcomes and prevent homelessness in South Australia, the South Australian government has run a competitive tender of homelessness services in the state under a new structure. It sought responses from alliances of social service organisations to work together to address problems in the homelessness system under a single funding contract for an entire region covering all homeless cohorts. The previous system for the Adelaide City and South region was a series of separate funding agreements across 15 different agencies without a common outcomes framework or formal methods to interconnect between services.
Latitude Network supported the Toward Home Alliance to develop a ground up homelessness strategy and program logic based on prevention. With the team, we identified the wide range of cohorts with differing needs across the homelessness system. We zeroed in on those at risk of entering the homelessness system and identified a way to capture data and shift resources towards preventing entry into the crisis accommodation system. The alliance partners developed a professional and mature way of collaborating which provided a strong platform for development of a more ambitious program design. This represents one of the most significant changes to the homelessness system in some years, and provides a pathway for better collaboration, use of data, and continuous improvement with transparent sharing of outcomes between the social sector partners and government. The new outcomes–oriented approach helps to align government and social service organisation interests more directly with client interests. The achievement of client outcomes and prevention of entry into high cost homelessness services provides benefits for all parties. Congratulations to the alliance partners that will now deliver integrated, outcomes-based homelessness services for the Adelaide City and South region -
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iiSOCIAL ISSUE
Each year, large numbers of people in the mental health system struggle to secure and maintain housing and fall into long-term homelessness. This has significant consequences for their long-term health & wellbeing and puts a high burden on the state’s housing and health systems. CLIENT CHALLENGE Wellways, a national provider of mental health services and leader in sub-acute mental health care, developed the Doorway approach. Doorway supports clients out of a clinical mental health service and into a home by leveraging Australia’s second-largest housing market - private rentals. Doorway does the heavy-lifting to make sure that people engage with and secure a long-term tenancy in the private rental market. This radically increases the supply of housing available to this client group, whilst normalising the process of maintaining housing in the community - not in the public housing system. Wellways has iterated and proven the Doorway model over nearly a decade and an academic review demonstrates its efficacy. However, the challenge for Wellways was that despite Doorway having demonstrated value and impact, there were not any established channels or processes for Wellways to proactively approach Government about continuing this program beyond its pilot. THE ROLE LATITUDE NETWORK PLAYED Latitude Network worked closely with Wellways to strengthen the proposition as an outcomes-based program and transform Doorway into a convincing proactive funding approach to Government. We undertook a deep-dive into the Doorway segmentation data to see for whom it worked best and under what circumstances. We then advised Wellways on how the program could be dialled-up in these areas to create a more compelling investment case for funders. We used a multi-year, data-driven analysis of client outcomes linked through to the program logic and developed a discounted cash flow financial model that reflects the 10-year cost-savings to Government in Net Present Value terms. THE TRANSFORMATION / IMPACT The process of reframing a proven program as an outcomes-oriented program has helped enhance Wellways’ business capacity and confidence to deliver on its promises to clients. It can now target clear and specific outcomes to be delivered with confidence. The Doorway transformation has also created a template for the future, enabling Wellways to apply this methodology to other successful programs. Most importantly, perhaps, the process has reinforced Wellways’ position as a service provider who wants to continuously do better despite traditional block funding mechanisms. Through Doorway, the organisation is now ready for the future world of outcomes-based funding.
SOCIAL ISSUE
Cricket, and the local cricket club, is at the heart of hundreds of communities across Victoria. Growing participation numbers are a positive sign that cricket plays an important community role, transcending age, gender, race and ability. However the impact cricket has on the local community is largely undefined, and often it's potential is often untapped. CLIENT CHALLENGE Cricket Victoria - one of Victoria's leading sporting organisations - intrinsically knew that cricket connects communities and improves lives by bringing people together. It was clear that cricket delivered mental, physical and cultural benefits, positively shaping the lives of the individuals and communities involved. However, Cricket Victoria wanted to know ‘How can we measure and enhance our social impact through the cricket experience?’. And, ‘How can we be more targeted and deliberate in the impact we deliver locally’? Cricket Vic also recognised that the needs and issues important to the community varies across the thousands of cricket clubs across the state. Any system for improving social impact would therefore need to be:
THE ROLE LATITUDE NETWORK PLAYED This project was delivered over two key stages: the first focused on understanding the needs of local clubs, communities and the types of social and health issues that clubs could realistically engage with. It delivered a frame and a method that Cricket Vic could use to help clubs enhance their social impact using participation as the main tool. The second stage (ongoing through 2020-21) is piloting the process (known as the Community Outcomes Framework) by working with clubs themselves to co-design initiatives to identify and address local needs and using data to measure the impact. IMPACT Latitude Network has built a Community Impact Framework for Cricket Victoria that, once tested, will enable cricket clubs right around Victoria to identify and address important social issues within the community using participation as the key tool. We continue to work with Cricket Vic and clubs in stage 2 (2020-21) to co-design local impact initiatives and use data to monitor and evidence the effect during the club cricket season.  Outcomes funding, Homelessness, policy, Social Impact Bonds, Social Impact Investments Victoria's first social impact bond: Journey to Social Inclusion Sacred Heart Mission successfully negotiated Victoria’s first Social Impact Investment (outcomes-based contract) and Latitude Network supported them each step of the way.
SOCIAL ISSUE
SHM began life with the opening of the parish doors in Grey Street, St Kilda, to host meals for locals experiencing homelessness. Nearly 40 years on and SHM is now a leader in providing intensive support for people right across the homelessness spectrum using engagement services (meals and welcoming physical spaces) and individualised service support as well as providing accommodation and support. SHM’s program, Journey to Social Inclusion (J2SI), was born in the late-2000s out of the organisation’s concern that ‘business as usual’ was not allowing them to do the job they wanted to do - end homelessness for some of Melbourne’s most vulnerable people. As a result of the inherent silos in the social and health service systems, SHM decided to invest in building an evidence-based, outcomes-focused program for clients linking a ‘rapid-housing’ response with targeted help over the long-term (three years) - something the current service system found almost impossible to do. CLIENT CHALLENGE After raising funds to run J2SI as a pilot as well as an expanded phase 2, SHM’s challenge was to continue to attract funding to both keep the program going but also to grow the program so that SHM could reach more of those it knew needed more targeted support. In late 2016 the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance issued a ‘Request for Proposal’ for its Social Impact Bond (SIB) Pilot Program. SHM saw this as an opportunity to both continue the growth and reach of J2SI while also testing an ‘outcomes-based funding’ approach for J2SI. But this was going to be a competitive tender with perhaps up to 20 organisations interested in applying. How do we make SHM’s J2SI program stand out and then, if successful, negotiate something that had no precedent in Victoria? THE ROLE LATITUDE NETWORK PLAYED / THE OUTCOME Latitude Network acted as a specialist advisor, project manager and negotiator through both the tender application and contract negotiation stages. Russ Wood helped coordinate the existing expertise, talent and energy within SHM and the J2SI program, translating that into a negotiating approach that would help meet the Government’s outcomes, policy and financial agenda while also getting SHM the best outcome. It was intense work - fortnightly negotiation meetings with Government (led by Treasury officials) meant weekly SHM team meetings to review the meeting agenda and do the work to prepare to negotiate and, importantly, problem-solve the many challenges. Latitude Network not only helped keep the process on track - but also provided timely advice on the political and policy environment as well as the emerging outcomes-based funding environment. THE TRANSFORMATION / IMPACT J2SI became Victoria’s first ever SIB to be agreed when Victoria's Minister for Housing signed the contract with SHM in December 2017. As a result of this, SHM is now able to provide intensive, tailored support over three years to 180 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. Keep in touch to hear further updates as the project progresses.
 Outcomes framework, collective impact, local government, social impact
Australian first: $50m+ outcomes-based health & wellness hub in Brimbank, Melbourne SOCIAL ISSUE The municipality of Brimbank sits in Melbourne’s rapidly-growing west. It’s new health and wellness hub is located in St Albans, a suburb which has experienced deep social and health inequities for several decades. CLIENT CHALLENGE St Albans sits at the heart of the disadvantage that runs through the region and, in Keilor Downs on the border of St Albans is the suburb’s leisure centre (SALC). While the SALC had a loyal band of users it was well-beyond its useful life with growing maintenance costs adding to the challenges of running a tired community facility in a way that generates great community outcomes. Council wanted to go beyond a redevelopment and create a centre of regional leadership. The aim is not just to create a world-class facility (with pool, gym, community spaces) but also to ensure the infrastructure investment addresses some of the deep social and health challenges faced by people in the area. But how can a building do this? Typically, an infrastructure project focuses on risk, speed and staying within budget. Time is money. Often the thinking about services, impacts and site usage are delayed until after the concrete is poured. But Council wanted to make sure the development actually addressed some of the social and health inequities in the region as well as being an example of great community built-form. THE ROLE LATITUDE NETWORK PLAYED / THE OUTCOME Latitude Network designed and built an ‘Outcomes-Based Infrastructure’ process for Council that put a set of health and social outcomes at the heart of the development. This involved analysing social needs and patterns in the community, governance design, outcomes framework, collaboration and management structure and service design. The process brought together the ‘community’ vision of the site with the ‘physical’ vision for the site to make sure that the investment worked harder to achieve targeted community outcomes. In addition to helping guide the physical infrastructure decisions as part of the Project Control Group, Latitude Network advised Council on a tenancy tender process that attracted the right social service providers to join the projects as long-term tenants. The tenancy agreements even include provisions around setting and achieving outcomes - a first for a project of this type. THE TRANSFORMATION / IMPACT The project has proven that the money that governments and communities spend on infrastructure can be leveraged for higher social impact without delaying the build. Infrastructure dollars can create great spaces but also be accountable for positive changes in people’s lives. More than simply a ‘hub’, the embedding of social and health outcomes into the infrastructure process has meant that alongside new world-class facilities there are also key tenants at the site who are coming together with a program logic to address long-running social and health challenges. The development has also spawned a ‘collective impact’ project to build community momentum around addressing local social issues using the Hub. It has been set up as the ‘Impact Brimbank’ initiative with a diverse group of community members, and is building support in advance of the opening of the Hub. |
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