The Homelessness Policy Research Institute (HPRI) has prepared this report to help better understand the Ocean Front Walk (OFW) encampment outreach effort. This report can aid in understanding the advantages of the Encampment to Home model, which continues to grow in its application. Hopefully, the learnings from this research will help to strengthen future Encampment to Home outreach efforts by replicating its strongest points and avoiding potential barriers encountered by St. Joseph Center staff in serving the residents of Venice, California. Specifically, this report seeks to highlight the ways in which the Ocean Front Walk effort differed from St. Joseph Center’s other outreach endeavors; which aspects of this unique project were particularly successful; and how future targeted outreach work can build on these insights to potentially be even more successful.
To examine these topics, HPRI employed a mixed methods approach, utilizing qualitative, open-ended interviews and statistical analysis of data provided by St. Joseph Center from their Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), specific to the clients who were engaged, referred, and enrolled in conjunction with the OFW project. The insights that emerged reveal the distinctive manner in which OFW was organized and resourced, and clarify how OFW clients interacted with its service and housing resources over time.