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2 PRESERVING HOUSING: A BEST PRACTICES REPORT <br /> Defining a Mission, Goals, Objectives, and <br /> Measures <br /> To the extent a city has followed the best practices recommended in this report,it <br /> will have identified its mission in preserving housing and the goals and objectives <br /> of its housing programs during the process of thinking strategically about housing. <br /> Such a city can move directly to identifying measures and collecting data to assess <br /> its performance. <br /> However, if cities already have housing programs in place and want to evaluate <br /> them,they should first identify their overall mission in preserving housing. The <br /> mission describes the fundamental purposes of housing preservation, such as <br /> ensuring all residents have access to adequate housing. The mission is the <br /> foundation upon which goals,objectives,and performance measures are based. <br /> After defining the mission,cities or local housing organizations should set goals <br /> for preserving housing. Broad goal statements delineate what a city intends to <br /> achieve with its housing programs, such as maximizing the value of housing units <br /> as economic assets of the community. When developing housing preservation <br /> goals,cities may want to consider the four goals that are listed at the beginning of <br /> Chapter 2. <br /> Identifying their housing preservation mission and goals will help cities create <br /> program objectives. Objectives are directly related to the mission and goals,but <br /> they are more specific. They establish the specific housing preservation activities <br /> a jurisdiction aims to accomplish and by when. For example,an objective might <br /> be to reduce the number of boarded-up housing units within two years. <br /> Performance measures quantify the extent to which a city is meeting its <br /> objectives. There are four types of measures: outputs, outcomes,efficiency, and <br /> cost-effectiveness. Output measures quantify the amount of services provided. <br /> For example,in connection with the objective to lower the number of boarded-up <br /> housing units, an output measure is the number of boarded-up housing units <br /> removed from a city's housing stock. Outcome measures quantify the results of <br /> the services. A measure of outcomes related to the boarded-up housing objective <br /> might be residents' improved perceptions of the cities' housing. Efficiency <br /> measures quantify the costs of providing services, and are based on dollars, <br /> personnel, or time. An efficiency measure of this housing objective is the number <br /> of boarded-up units either abolished or returned to service per dollar expended. <br /> Cost-effectiveness measures quantify the costs associated with achieving desirable <br /> results. A measure of cost-effectiveness is the dollars spent for the improvement <br /> in resident perceptions. <br /> PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR <br /> PRESERVING HOUSING <br /> • To identify performance measures for evaluating housing preservation strategies, <br /> we read reports from cities throughout the United States and various housing <br />