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Quality
These pages are about what organisations working with homeless people can do to measure and improve the quality of their services.
See our Briefing on Quality.
What's New?
- We recently ran a London Spotlight event on quality with presentations from the Charities Evaluation Service, North London Action for the Homeless and Look Ahead Housing and Care. See the notes
About Quality
Quality is about finding out what you are doing well in your organisation and then working together to do it even better. It is recognising your strengths and building on them – identifying your weaknesses and addressing them.
Most organisations have a number of systems in place including organisational planning, supervision and appraisal, monitoring and evaluation - they serve different functions but all may contribute to a quality initiative.
Why is Quality important for your organisation?
It is important for organisations to be able to demonstrate effectively what they are doing, who they are working with, why they are working with them and how they will know that they have made a difference. They need to be clear about the purpose of their work and what they hope to achieve before they can hope to demonstrate to others that they provide a quality service.
Why is quality important for your clients?
Because your clients deserve it. They have a right to know what they should expect from a service and whether it is right for them. They can provide valuable insights into being on the receiving end of a service that can inform and enlighten the way an organisation develops more efficiently and effectively.
Resources
- Homeless Link has developed a Quality Toolkit, adapted from PQASSO by Charities Evaluation Services. Buy the toolkit
- Charities Evaluation Services (CES) provides training, advice and support to promote quality and accessible monitoring and evaluation practice.
- CES has published a an online booklet called First Steps in Quality.
- The British Quality Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit, membership company. Their mission is to be the driving force for sustainable excellence in organisations throughout the UK.
Other toolkits include:
- Evaluating Hostel Services - DCLG
- Risk Management for Supported Housing - Housing Corporation