Agenda Package - City of Vernon

Evaluation of Homelessness Strategy for the North Okanagan
By way of background, Lochaven Management Consultants Ltd is a client-centered firm
with a proven global reputation for excellence. LMC emphasizes collaborative working
arrangements that assist our clients to strengthen their abilities to identify opportunities, address
problems, and proactively meet the challenges of economic, social and technological change.
The company and its partners have assisted in the design, implementation and evaluation of
effective development strategies, programs and special initiatives on behalf of a broad and
diverse array of international and domestic clients from both the private and public sectors'
These clients have included numerous not-for-profit organizations; various levels of government
abroad and in Canada (including the Governments of Canada, British Columbia and Alberta);
numerous communities and regions worldwide; various international inter-governmental
organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and a
u.ii"ty of multilateral development organizations such as the lnternational Finance Corporation,
Multilateral lnvestment Guarantee Agency, United Nations and World Bank.
This evaluation was undertaken by Mr. George Treller, MA (Economics), Partner
Lochaven Management Consultants Ltd.
1.3 Approach and Methodology
This research effort works from the premise that evaluations ought to be useful.
Therefore the analytical approach undertaken served to answer the question: what do we have
to do to get the results that we need to get?
project investigations extended over the period June 7, 20L0 to October 31, 2010'
Report compilation, discussion and presentations took place during November 20L0'
An essential first step in the investigative effort was the identification and review of
relevant documents and reports that provided a broad overview of homelessness and its
inherent dynamics; the specific idiosyncrasies and the evolving nature of homelessness within
the City of Vernon and the North Okanagan region; and, an inventory of existing local efforts to
address various aspects of homelessnesst. Concurrently a series of interviews and/or
consultations with selected service providers, interested stakeholders, and clients was
undertaken to supplement the identification, collection and analysis of relevant secondary
information. From the very beginning special care was taken to ensure that the compilation
and analysis of all information was balanced, as complete as possible, and relevant to the
specific effort to prepare a proper evaluation.
ln this instance a proper evaluation of a Strategic Plan's effectiveness must necessarily
consider not only effectiveness (the ability to get things done) but also efficiency (the ability to do
things right). Such an assessment normally requires a fairly substantive amount of information
which wasn,t easy to acquire in this instance. Therefore we chose to employ a variety of
complementary evaluative techniques which collectively served to provide sufficient input to
6
An inventory of homelessness services was provided by the Social Planning Council.
Lffi
Fn¡lal Lochaven Management Consultants Ltd.
November 2010
Page 9
78