How Reporting Affects Those Experiencing Homelessness!

"Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted" - Albert Einstein

Whether people want to admit it or not: Homelessness, poverty, and the need for housing are severe problems in Auckland and Chicago. In response to what I've seen and experienced, I've been writing a post about 7 Differences and 7 Similarities between the 2 cities I've lived and worked in. After realising writing this will be a long journey, I've decided to post each "difference" and "similarity" as separate posts. 

Chicago

Reporting. It's got to be done! Every shelter, every agency, and every organisation has to meet certain standards to get the money required to run the programmes. Every Grant stipulates what questions need to be asked, what outcomes need to be accomplished, how to record all this information and when it needs to be submitted. Beyond the scheduled reports, programmes in Chicago and Tāmaki are frequently audited, making it imperative for employees to become efficient and accurate in all their intakes, case notes, goals plans and other required information.

"If you didn't write it down, it didn't happen!" I've heard this phrase hundreds of times from Sandy, CCO's past Executive Director, and someone I had the honour of working with for over 20 years.

It's as simple as that! It's as vital as that! Documenting everything is absolutely essential. Even if a programme is doing a fantastic job but they are terrible reporters, funding can be lost, shelters could be closed or reduced and there be multiple threats and warnings to right what's wrong. I've seen it, and I feel especially sorry for small ministries with big hearts and tiny budgets, and who have overworked folks who hold countless positions and aren't computer savvy.

This section will be shorter, not because of its significance, but because it hasn't really been my forte. I have done a smaller monthly report for over 15 years, but Beth is really the expert in our whānau. She has spent hours and hours generating several complicated monthly or quarterly reports for the City. She also has poured over files, making sure every little detail is perfectly documented the way an auditor requires. To add to the confusion, the KPIs (key performance indicators) can change from year to year and each auditor can focus on something different.

Trust me, this is no easy task, especially when dealing with the diversity and complexities of human beings. Here are some of the regular scenarios that can make reporting hard and even cause a programme to fail an audit: 1). Case managers who are brilliant at one-on-ones, but don't make the time to document all their good work. 2). A new participant arrives and they are tired of being asked invasive questions about who they are, what they've done in the past, and their present struggles, so they don't reveal the truth or storm off in anger. 3). Most KPIs require some sort of monthly or weekly check-in with the participant to see if they're meeting their goals, but there'll always be those who avoid those meetings. 4). This final example happened a lot in Chicago: someone would come into the shelter, they'd be meeting the requirements, but then all of a sudden, they'd move out without communication, and we wouldn't know where they'd gone.

All of the above happens in various ways in both cities, but here lies the major difference: Aotearoa tries to be paper-free, it's primarily just the intakes that are done on actual paper because they need to be signed, and then they're scanned onto the very secure database. All case notes, goal plans and any other information are recorded straight into the system, which generates reports and makes auditing easier.

Chicago, on the other hand, loves its paper.  Every Intake, case note, goal plan, referral, document, waiver, proof of income, proof of benefits, proof of housing, and proof of ID needs to be printed and put into a physical paper file. When it is time for the audit, these files, which can be a couple of inches thick, are put into banker boxes and presented to the auditor. What adds to the frustration and confusion is that Chicago also has a very secure database, and everything in the paper files can be found there, but the auditors aren't trained to navigate the database and continue to go through page after page after page.

There's a huge difference when someone walks into an office in Chicago compared to Auckland's approach. In Chicago, desks normally have an abundance of paper on them, filing cabinets are filled to the brim and banker boxes are jampacked with crucial information. Admittedly, my office looked like that constantly, whereas in Tāmaki Makaurau people will primarily just see the laptop. Being paper-free is far better for the environment, but it's also important to note, a paperless approach is more productive and offers a higher level of security and protection for people's sensitive data.

The reality is, reports and audits can have the power to take us away from helping people, but if done right, they have a very important purpose that positively affects those experiencing homelessness. Reports produce statistics, which can be used to open people's eyes to the needs in our communities. Reports have the ability to create funding, reports can provoke protests and reports can be used to reveal the need for more programmes. Reports cannot create love or compassion, yet they can keep us focussed on our mission, they can keep us on track, they can prevent abuse and discrimination and they can ensure good outcomes for those we are called to serve. 

Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland

To read the other differences (and eventually the similarities), and to see the context of this particular piece, please go to Homelessness in Chicago VS Homelessness in Auckland!

My intent in writing these is to break barriers, create awareness, bring justice, and provide compassion for those who are some of society's most vulnerable members, for those experiencing homelessness.