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

who purchased homes. Some agencies make use of connections with borrowers through lenders to
monitor clients for mortgage delinquencies. In some cases this is possible because of second
mortgages held by the counseling agency. In another case, an intermediary reported having
established the necessary agreements with borrowers and a few lenders to be able to obtain
information from lenders when borrowers miss payments.
But beyond the obstacles presented by a lack of funding and the difficulty of reaching clients, several
intermediaries and SHFAs noted that counseling agencies lack the technical skills needed to conduct
effective follow-up. Some urged HUD to take the lead in developing effective follow-up
methodologies and then provide both training and funding to carry out these activities. This view was
articulated by one respondent to the agency survey who noted:
Agencies need training on the outcome measurement tools AND the funding to track client
outcomes. With such little funding from HUD, it is difficult to expend limited staff resources
and financial resources to track and maintain client outcomes. (Neighborhood development
organization in PA)
One intermediary commented that for the purpose of documenting outcomes, it would actually be best
if these activities were conducted by a professional research organization using sampling techniques
and proven methods of tracking respondents over several years.
The agency survey asked agencies to indicate all of the methods they use to conduct follow up with
each type of education and counseling client assisted. Exhibit 7-10 shows the share of agencies that
report using any of the identified methods for any of their education and counseling client types.
Across all types of counseling services, follow-up was most commonly done by telephone, with 72
percent of agencies reporting using this method. What may be most surprising about this share is that
28 percent of agencies do not attempt follow up by telephone, likely reflecting the challenges cited in
the interviews and survey comments about getting clients to respond to phone calls. The second most
common method used to follow-up with clients was in-person interviews, with 40 percent of agencies
employing this approach. As many intermediaries and SHFAs noted, it is common to ask prepurchase
clients to come back to the agency for post-purchase classes or counseling as a means of
following-up as well as providing additional services. A moderate share of agencies report using
other methods of gather information on former clients: mail surveys (32 percent), email (22 percent),
and contacts with other service providers to gather information (21 percent). Overall, 10 percent of
agencies report not engaging in any attempts at follow-up.
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Chapter 7. Client Characteristics and Outcomes