Housing Counseling Process Evaluation and Design of ... - HUD User

Our estimate includes all types of education and counseling. Our average hours of time spent per
client (5.9) is below the low-end of the range assumed by Collins and Baker since our estimate
includes all types of education and counseling, not just pre-purchase, and many other types of housing
education and counseling are less time intensive (see Chapter 6 for information on average hours of
services by type of client). Thus, our average of $431 is roughly in keeping with Collins and Baker
given the somewhat less intensive level of services in our analysis. It is also important to bear in
mind that the estimate by Collins and Baker is for what might best be described as an ideal method
for providing these services, while our data represents that average experience across all agencies in
an environment of constrained funding.
To examine how average costs per client vary with agency characteristics, we estimated a simple
regression model that included indicators of each agency’s total clients, client specialization, and
agency mission type, using the categories presented for each of these variables in Chapter 3. 32 In
addition, we also included an estimate of the average hours of staff time spent per client. The
estimate of staff time per client was based on survey responses indicating the amount of time devoted
to a typical client for each type of counseling service including time spent in workshops, in one-onone
counseling, and in case management. (Case management refers to activities conducted when the
client is not present, including scheduling meetings, recording data, conducting follow up, and
advocating with other organizations on the clients’ behalf.) Since agencies reported the number of
hours spent on each client by the type of education or counseling received, we estimated a single
weighted-average time spent per client by using the number of clients receiving each type of
education and counseling as weights. Hours spent in workshops were divided by 10 on the
assumption that the average workshop included 10 participants. 33
The regression model provides an estimate of how much average per client costs vary with each of
these agency characteristics. These estimates are presented in Exhibit 5-12. The most important
factor in explaining variations in per client costs is agency size. While agencies serving fewer than
150 clients a year averaging $464 per client, as client volumes increase per client costs steadily
decline, averaging only $250 for agencies serving between 500 and 999 clients per year, and as low as
$133 for the largest agencies serving 5,000 or more clients per year. This result suggests that there
are some efficiencies to larger scale counseling operations.
Average costs also vary with the number of staff hours spent per client, ranging from $244 per client
for agencies that average fewer than 2.5 hours per client to $354 per client for those that average more
than 8 hours per client. These estimates, however, are fairly crude given the available information.
While the average agency has as average hourly cost implied by these figures of $88 per hour, which
seems reasonable given staff and overhead expenses, the range of hourly costs is enormous. At the
32
33
The sample used in the regression model excluded 13 observations that were missing information on hours
spent per client as well as 55 observations that had extreme values for either total cost per client (greater
than $1,600) or total average hours per client (greater than 50).
We did not have any systematic information on average workshop attendance to inform this assumption,
but rather based this assumption on our experience in observing workshops in the past. The average of 10
allows for a range of participation from a small number of participants to class sizes in the 20s. In any
event, the results were only slightly affected by changes in this assumption to allow for 20 participants on
average in workshops.
Chapter 5. Sources of Agency Funding and Costs of Providing Service 73