ABSTRACT
The evaluation’s fundamental objectives are to determine whether and under what circumstances supportive services programs consistent with the principles can be implemented and sustained, and what impact such programs have on elderly tenants, the housing developments, and the sponsoring housing finance agencies (HFAs). The demonstration enabled senior management and others within HFAs to mobilize sufficient management attention, resources, and staff to build and institutionalize a service responsibility within the HFA. Assessed in terms of its capacity to extend HFAs’ and housing owners/managers’ attention beyond bricks and mortar to service needs and in terms of its probable impact beyond the demonstration period, preliminary evidence indicates that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Supportive Services Program in Senior Housing has been a success. Perhaps of more concern to future policy than these issues of institutional change is the impact the demonstration’s investment in service capacity has on the residents of subsidized housing.
