	Outreach Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-OS 4: Service Provision

Outreach services link individuals and families with needed services and housing.

Research Note: A wide-ranging review of available evidence from studies conducted worldwide, conducted by the World Health Organization, indicates a strong connection between community-based outreach to persons with HIV/AIDS and reduced HIV risk behavior, and exposure to HIV.

PA-OS 4.01

Outreach services are flexible and respond to the unique needs of homeless individuals and families.

PA-OS 4.02

Outreach services provide, either directly or through referral, an array of services that meet basic needs and help integrate the person or family into the community.

Interpretation: Services may include:

basic needs, including food, clothing, shelter, hygiene, and laundry;
crisis intervention;
medical/dental evaluation and care;
housing assistance;
substance abuse education and treatment;
legal assistance;
help accessing public assistance;
case management;
social support services;
health information, including information about harm reduction, STDs, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy prevention; and
counseling and/or treatment.

PA-OS 4.03

A team of professionals or paraprofessionals provides outreach services.

Research Note: Outreach teams that include peers can be helpful in locating, engaging, and assessing homeless individuals.

PA-OS 4.04

The agency develops safety guidelines for street outreach personnel and, when necessary due to safety concerns, deploys at least a two-person team.

NA The agency does not provide street outreach.

PA-OS 4.05

When the outreach team has the authority to transport a person involuntarily to an emergency facility, the agency follows a written protocol that protects the safety, dignity, and legal rights of the service recipient.

NA The agency does not have the required authority.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Outreach Services engage homeless individuals and families as a first step to accepting care for immediate health and safety needs, using services and resources, including housing resources, and taking steps to become integrated into the community.

RELATED FILES


	OUTREACH Contact initiated by a provider to identify persons in need of services, to provide information to them about services and benefits, and to encourage the use of appropriate services.


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	CRISIS INTERVENTION The immediate response to the acute needs of a person in crisis including referral to appropriate community resources, advocacy, support, or direct assistance.


	EVALUATION The review and assessment of organizational operations, programs and services.


	SUBSTANCE ABUSE The misuse of a chemical substance in a manner that is detrimental to an individual's physical or mental health.


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	PREVENTION Actions taken to minimize and/or eliminate social, psychological, or other conditions. Prevention can occur at the individual, group, community, and societal levels and enhances opportunities to achieve positive fulfillment.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.