An Evaluation of Service Use and Satisfaction at Lathrop Homes and Henry Horner Homes
Lathrop Homes
(2/1/2000 - 12/31/2001)
In March of 2000, the Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) at Loyola University Chicago, entered into a partnership with the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) in a collaborative project to identify a baseline of social service usage and consumer evaluation of services within or near public housing. This data can help CHA and its service providers plan for future service provision and also presents the findings from service use and satisfaction evaluations at Lathrop Homes and Henry Horner Homes.
CURL conducted this research under its Participatory Research Evaluation and Training (PERT) umbrella of projects, which funded the training aspects of the project with a grant from the Department of Education. All other aspects of the project were funded by CHA. CURL involved residents of public housing in the data collection and survey development. Members of the CURL research team met with local advisory councils (LAC) at Lathrop and Horner Homes to identify programs important to CHA residents. The LACs identified services and providers in the area. They also identified services that may be needed in or near the housing project.
The LAC Offices and CHA selected and hired Lathrop and Horner residents to be interviewers. CURL researchers trained the residents to administer the survey to their neighbors, which resulted in two key benefits for the project. Trained residents benefited by learning a new skill and being a part of the research process. In addition, the researchers assumed that CHA residents would be more likely to complete a survey administered by one of their neighbors than a survey administered by a stranger and obvious outsider to the community. As a result, the research benefited from higher response rates.
Research Team:
J. Hoereth, CURL
C. George, CURL
C. Lambertson, Graduate Fellow, Sociology
N. Rousseau, Graduate Fellow, Sociology
J. Leslie, Graduate Fellow, Philosophy
R. Abuinnab, Graduate Fellow, Philosophy
K. Greenberg, Chicago Housing Authority
A. Fitzpatrick, Chicago Housing Authority
Chicago Housing Authority
A. Harper, Undergraduate Student
A. Thomas, Undergraduate Student
S. Veele, Undergraduate Student
Y. Juste, Undergraduate Student
K. Nuth, Undergraduate Student
Community Partner: