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

while 24 percent conduct an informal assessment. Agencies that predominantly provide workshops
were more likely than other agencies (50 percent) to provide a standard set of services to most clients
without conducting an individual needs assessment.
Exhibit 6-6. Distribution of Agencies by Use of Client Needs Assessment Process
Most Clients
Receive Standard
Set of Services,
39%
Formal Needs
Assessment is
Done to Determine
Client Services,
37%
Informal Needs
Assessment is
Done to Determine
Client Services,
24%
Source: Abt Associates survey of HUD-approved counseling agencies.
Note: Based on survey responses of 908 agencies.
Characteristics of Pre-Purchase Workshops
The agency survey also gathered information on the approaches used by agencies in their prepurchase
workshops. First, agencies were asked to identify all of the curricula used in their prepurchase
workshops. Their responses are presented in Exhibit 6-7.
On average, agencies use two different curricula in their pre-purchase workshops. Most common is
for agencies to use materials that they developed themselves: 55 percent of agencies reported that
they rely on their own materials, including 13 percent that reported they rely solely on their own
materials. Forty-seven percent of survey respondents reported relying on some “other” curricula,
including 10 percent relying solely on these materials. The “other” category includes a wide
assortment of sources, including state agencies, HUD, intermediaries, and financial institutions. The
preponderance of agencies using their own materials (or materials developed by states or
intermediaries) likely reflects to some degree the efforts of agencies to tailor their workshops to local
circumstances or the specific needs of the population they serve.
Chapter 6. Characteristics of Education and Counseling Services 85