The series of articles listed below come from data publicly available from the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness and the Cleveland Mediation Center (link). Additional research from previous case studies can be found on our information page.
The data sources for these articles have been chosen based on availability of data over five years. There is little publicly available data or research on the emerging best practice of shelter diversion and rapid resolution.
TLDR: (Too Long, Didn’t Read) Summary
1. Diversion and Rapid Resolution programs are often young to collect long run data. As an emerging best practice, programs and communities are often changing policies and funding variables which could impact the overall trends that emerge in the data.
2. Data Collection in Diversion and Rapid Resolution has challenges that impact which data is collected and by whom.
3. Despite this disclaimer, there is a lot we can learn from the data that is publicly available on Diversion and Rapid Resolution. We greatly hope to continue to expand our body of knowledge on this topic. Want to help? Contact us! Thank you.
Reasons for lack of Additional Available Data:
1. Long-Term Data takes Time:
The first reason for the lack of wider available data for Diversion and Rapid Resolution over the long run is simply that these interventions are emerging best practices, and therefore have not existed for enough time in most communities to capture data.
Of course, it takes time to gather long-term data. Therefore, we must all be patient to learn more and, when possible, participate in collecting information from our own communities to add to this body of knowledge, contact us!.
2. Adaptations of the Definition & Programs
Originally, Diversion programs in Connecticut targeting people who were going to be experiencing homelessness that night or in the next 72 hours and had not yet slept unhoused or in a shelter. Now, many communities have adopted a standard of around “two week” prior to becoming unhoused or unsheltered, aligning with updated to the HUD definition of homelessness (link).
Some communities practice Rapid Resolution, which is a term that encompasses Diversion and Rapid Exit programs, allowing for similar mediations to take place after a few nights (commonly up to two weeks) prior to or after becoming unhoused. This practice stays true to the “Critical Time Intervention” theory behind the mediation, while allowing for more flexibility in practice.
Some communities shifted from the term and practice of Diversion to Rapid Resolution over the last few years. While this may be a positive change, we will need to remain patient for long-run data on these programs. Rapid Resolution, as a term, began as a joint diversion and rapid exit program with the Social Services for Veterans Families program, in 2019 (check). Data collection protocols have been adapted several times since then, therefore we can hope for longer-run data on these programs in 2025 and 2030.
3. Changes in Funding & External Circumstances
The effectiveness of a Diversion intervention may be impacted by aspects of a program such as policies or funding.
- Community Adoption
For example, if an agency trains community members which have interactions with clients prior to their referral to practice diversion conversations, diversions on a community level (beyond the tracking of the housing and homeless service community) may rise. However the agency may see an internal decline in Diversions because many people are being diverted previous to their interaction with a provider, leaving only those who are more challenging to divert.
- Funding Consideration
- Funds to support Diversion and Rapid Resolution
Diversion and Rapid Resolution funding may fluctuate over time. For example, in the early years many agencies have only small, flexible pockets within their organization. Since the CARES act, many communities have been able to use government funding for Diversion & Rapid Resolution activities.
This comes with changes in the amount available, but may also change what can be funding, qualifications, reporting requirements, and documentation.
- Funding in other areas of Homelessness and Housing Services
While funding for other housing and homeless services may seem separate from Diversion and Rapid Resolution activities, these factors may effect the motivation and attention of providers and communities away from prioritizing these efforts.
We may try harder to divert someone when the only option is a waitlist because the shelter is full.
Our motivation and urgency to find a safe alternative may be changed if we know rapid rehousing funding is also available and we may be able to get this client more funding through that program.
Our focus as an agency may shift when we want to get as many people into our other program as needed to maintain this year’s level of funding next year.
These are only a few ways where funding and policies outside of Diversion itself can affect the diversion outcomes over the long run.
4. Data Collection
Diversion and Rapid Resolution approaches often create reverse incentives on collecting high quality data on the people that are served. Generally, homeless and housing service data collection platforms focus on the collection of information for those being served with high levels of resources, such as a shelter bed, rapid re-housing, transition, or permanent supportive housing.
Diversion and Rapid Resolution often involve people avoiding any higher levels of housing services. While this is not always true, the intervention may be as simple as a twenty-minute mediation with the client and their supports. As a result, providers may not feel a need to record this service interaction. Some funding may also not require this collection to support the person after the conversation. As a result, training and incentives around data collection are important to good data quality and may vary over time with new staff and management.
Community partners who are adjacent to homeless and housing services, such as libraries, schools, hospitals, or other human services groups, may practice Diversion and Rapid Resolution. They often do so without access to data collection instruments, which limits the data which is collected.
5. Additional Limitations in Interpreting Data
The counterfactual of what the homeless and housing landscape would look like without a diversion or rapid resolution program is unknowable. The articles do not attempt to claim that there is a causal link that can be established between Diversion and lower rates of homelessness overall, as outside circumstances and the factors previously listed make this incredibly challenging to prove.
This is an incomplete list of some of the economic factors which could impact diversion rates as well as the overall frequency of housing instability.
- Affordable Housing
- Unemployment
- Transit Opportunities
- National Health & Environmental Crises