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Choosing the Right Partner: Forging a Trusting and Sustainable Relationship

To maintain housing and stability, and provide supportive services for people who are formerly incarcerated, it is critical for housing developers to build a strong relationship with the right social services provider. This helps ensure that the housing type, services and residents are well-integrated into the overall neighborhood ecosystem, and enhances the likelihood of successful reentry for residents.

Prior to selecting a service provider, it is key for the housing provider/developer to have a deep understanding of the community in which the housing development will be located, and their prospective residents. This understanding provides valuable insights for crafting a comprehensive evaluation framework and requires intentional community engagement, as outlined in Section 8. Through such engagement, the housing provider can gain insights into the services and activities most desired by neighborhood residents, which will, in turn, inform the service provider evaluation framework.

This section addresses the following:

  • How to select the right partner: the concepts and questions a developer should keep in mind when evaluating potential service providers, in terms of their quantifiable and qualitative experience and expertise, as well as whether the provider demonstrates an ethos of partnership – and how to make that determination.

  • Building the partnership: key tips for forging a relationship that is sustainable at all levels, from front-line staff working with residents to top leadership.

  • Navigating and mitigating common pitfalls: with proper planning, and within a solid, trusting relationship, pitfalls can either be avoided or, if they do manifest, addressed in a manner that neither damages the relationship nor negatively impacts the residents.

How to select the right partner

In selecting a service provider to partner with, it is critical to evaluate the following:

  • Their model and track record of service provision with people impacted by the criminal legal system.

  • Their connection to or knowledge of the community in which the housing will be located.

  • Their ability to effectively partner at the leadership and staff level – with the housing developer leadership and staff.

Select for an ethos of partnership

It is imperative to select a service provider that has experience working with people impacted by the criminal legal system, and particularly with people who have been incarcerated. As is detailed in Sections 1-2, people who have been incarcerated present with an intersectional confluence of needs, trauma and other lived experiences of systemic racism and poverty that are best addressed by culturally competent service providers. For example, as discussed in Section 2, it is vital that the service provider take a trauma-informed approach, including staff training. Look for service providers that hire people who have been incarcerated or otherwise impacted by the justice system, as they often have great success in connecting with even the most seemingly challenging or shut down clients.

It is also imperative that the service provider offers quality services that are well-received by participants. Ask for data about program retention rates, references who can speak to participant satisfaction (for example, other entities that refer participants to the provider, such as defense attorneys, prosecutors, other nonprofits or government agencies), and, if possible, the results of participant satisfaction surveys.

Some key questions to explore:

  • Does the service provider have expertise with people involved in the criminal legal system, especially those who have been incarcerated?

  • What is the service provider’s track record of enrollment year to year?

  • For service areas that have program end dates or completion milestones, what is the retention rate and milestone completion rate?

  • Can the service provider offer any qualitative data in support of program participant satisfaction?

Sources may include participant satisfaction surveys, success stories, testimonials, media clips including participants, or feedback from referral sources.

  • Does the range of services match the anticipated needs of the population to be served? If not, do they have the network to make necessary referrals?

  • Do they or can they offer activities and services of interest to members of the surrounding community?

  • Do they take a trauma-informed approach to providing services?

  • What are their hiring practices? Do they prioritize hiring people with backgrounds similar to the future residents and/or other community members?

  • If the building does not have sufficient space for provision of all contracted services on site, how easy will it be for residents to access the providers’ other sites, considering financial constraints, transportation issues, and/or health issues?

  • How well does the provider know the community in which the housing will be located?

  • Is the service provider financially stable? Can the provider weather financial downturns and continue providing services to residents?

Select for an ethos of partnership

One way to evaluate this seemingly intangible quality is to look at the depth, breadth and duration of the provider’s existing networks among sister nonprofits, government agencies, and when possible, other community groups such as community boards or their equivalent. The existence of such networks speaks to a provider’s belief in the importance of partnership and is something that can be explored through interviews with identified members of such networks.

Building the partnership

To ensure project success and the ultimate success of residents, it is necessary to establish clear processes for communication, as well as clear lines of communication with the right point people for specific issues. It is also critically important to ensure that any staff who will be working on site, from the housing provider/developer and from the service provider, be given the structure, space and support to develop their own working relationships within the overall framework of the organizational relationship. All parties need to be clear about the overarching goal: the successful operation of safe, stable housing that becomes part of the everyday fabric of the surrounding community.

Housing provider and service provider leadership must set the tone by demonstrating their trust in each other to staff and managers. When speaking about the project to staff, it is important to convey that sense of trust – if that cannot be done with integrity and authenticity, it’s not the right partnership. If staff sense that there is a lack of trust between leaders at the top, they will not feel comfortable with their new frontline partners, or trust in the potential success of the project. This, in turn, will lead to poor service delivery and a negative experience for the residents.

While property management and service provider staff play different roles, they share the common goal of maintaining a safe, stable residence that is well-integrated into the surrounding community. To that end, it is crucial from the outset the different yet complimentary roles of property management staff and service provider staff be clearly defined. It is also helpful if staff from each entity have similar levels of decision-making authority within their respective organizations, so that they can effectively engage with each other on the ground, particularly in times of crisis or challenge.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) can help with this. Though not legally binding, an MOU serves as a communication tool for expressing an agreed upon and mutually beneficial goal and the desire to see it through to completion. It should clearly define the roles of each partner, as demonstrated in the sample MOU provided by the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Be sure to make the MOU available to all staff members, and staff training – ideally, cross-training – should be conducted to ensure understanding.

Regular meetings between housing and service provider staff and property management mean potential conflicts and relationship tensions can be navigated before they spiral. It is important for staff to know that there is consistent time set aside to discuss issues about residents or staff responsibilities. Leadership expectations that such meetings will occur regularly, and be reported back out to supervisors, sends a clear message that cooperation and collaboration are shared values.

With planning, transparency and training, and consistent messaging about shared goals, partners can avoid the kinds of common pitfalls that arise in the operation of supportive housing for residents with a wide array of complex needs. While not all challenging situations can be avoided, they can be successfully navigated if a strong partnership has been established and intentionally maintained. Here are a few examples:

  • Manage resident crises with consistency. All staff, from all partner entities, should share a set of protocols regarding emergent crises. For example, who will be responsible for addressing a complaint one resident makes against another? If a resident publicly decompensates, disrupting operations? Roles must be defined and implemented consistently across situations to ensure fairness in how residents are treated, and to instill in residents the belief that they will be treated equitably. This kind of shared approach is necessary not only to effectively manage crises in real time, but also to maintain overall residential stability.

  • Ensure service provision is adequate for current residents’ individual needs. Individuals may present with new and different needs over time, and trends in arrest and prosecution may mean that more people with mental health needs than originally anticipated have been accepted into the housing program. If the service provider partner is unable to address residents’ needs, it is important they have the ability to connect them to other appropriate providers in a timely, seamless fashion.

  • Maintain resident trust by managing staff conflicts. In any working environment, it is natural for disagreements to arise. In a residential setting, however, tension between staff from different entities can cause stress and/or lead residents to believe that the partners are not a unified front, and therefore may undercut each other in terms of adherence to house rules. It is imperative that staff know not to air grievances in front of residents, and to seek supervisory assistance if they cannot resolve it themselves.

  • Respect confidentiality of residents. Property management/housing developer staff may not understand the importance, in a service provision context, of maintaining resident confidentiality, particularly about mental and physical health. For example, a staff member may share information with another in a common space and be overheard by another resident, who may then feel distrustful and worried about their own confidential information. Cross-training between the service provider and building-focused staff may prevent this sort of incident from occurring.

Resources

The following resources informed the contents of this section:

Choosing the right social service provider is critical to the success of any supportive housing venture. Once the provider is selected, they should serve not only as an equal partner in maintaining a safe, stable living environment, but also in uplifting the housing project’s reputation in the surrounding community and beyond.

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