The Kinder Institute for Urban Research and United Way of Greater Houston created a program called Coffee & Quality Case Study that works with designated United Way organizations to 1) identify ways to build and bolster the organization's current data-collecting practices and 2) use data to understand and improve program outcomes. The first Coffee & Quality Case Study focused on Angel Reach, a nonprofit working with young people aging out of the foster care system and/or at risk of homelessness.
The United Way, the Kinder Institute and Angel Reach codesigned and codeveloped a series of research questions to help explore and better understand:
- Who are the clients entering Angel Reach's program?
- How are clients progressing over time and who is likely to be retained?
- How should Angel Reach apply the study's findings to practice?
The data used in this study were collected by Angel Reach from 2020 to 2023. They included information on clients' demographics, personal goals, and scores on a 12-item matrix identifying their needs in child care, education, employment, finances, food, health care, legal, mental health, shelter, substance abuse, support network and transportation/mobility.
Findings and lessons learned were also shared during a webinar hosted by the three organizations.
