Description of the programme

Centrepoint annually supports over 9,200 homeless young people aged 16 to 25 into housing and employment across England. These young people are some of the most vulnerable in society. Moneywise provides a range of activities, designed to improve the financial and mental wellbeing, financial resilience and financial capability of homeless young people. Moneywise is a support programme comprised of accredited training, mentoring, workshops, and ad-hoc advice, delivered by external experts, ambassadors and Centrepoint staff. Delivery and engagement varies from hostel to hostel, duration of stay permitted, hostel service structure/management and the needs of each individual.

The study

Taking place between May 2017 and February 2018, the evaluation aimed to answer the following research question:

• To what extent do the individual or combined elements of the Moneywise intervention impact on the financial capability of homeless young people?

The evaluation comprised of both a process and an outcomes evaluation. The process evaluation explored participants’ views on engagement, experience and effectiveness. The outcomes evaluation assessed results against a number of outcome areas from the Money Advice Service’s (MAS’s) Adult Outcomes Framework: Ability, Mindset, Connection and Financial Capability behaviours.

The evaluation methodology comprised of:

• 20 participant interviews conducted on project entry, supplemented by MAS Adult Outcomes Framework questions. These interviews were intended to be longitudinal, with follow-up points (across 5-6 months).
• Interviews and focus groups with 18 key workers and volunteers at the interim stage, and 10 Centrepoint staff for the final evaluation.
• A quantitative analysis of management information.

Key findings

Process evaluation findings:

• The project exceeded its overall target of engaging 200 people.
• However take-up of more than one activity was lower than expected.
• The effectiveness of the relationship with their key worker and frontline staff at Centrepoint hostels affected participants’ overall experiences of the project. (Key workers offer holistic support and refer participants to other services where appropriate).

Outcomes evaluation findings:

• Participants learnt to budget their spending. This ability was fostered by making activities relevant to participants’ lives and practising skills, such as budgeting in different situations.
• Some participants recorded increased financial confidence and spending mindsets. However attitudes towards money advice were mixed and often based on external factors such as pre-existing views/upbringing. Participants found maintaining financial confidence and a positive mindset difficult, when faced with life events and financial shocks e.g. unexpected unemployment, receiving fines, or additional costs such as car maintenance.
• : Support needs to be tailored to individuals’ situations and continued after they leave Centrepoint to maintain connection outcomes.
• Several participants developed the behaviours needed to manage well daily, reduce debt and deal with life events, supporting their successful transition to independent living.

The evaluation identified a number of recommendations for policy and practice to improve financial capability assessments as individuals transition through services, including:

• Regular progress reviews, across a range of health and wellbeing indicators, to measure participant distance travelled from entry to exit, and onto other provision.
• More retrospective analysis of progress, ensuring questions are designed to track the client journey, rather than focusing on the effectiveness of a one-off assessment.
• Monitoring individuals’ transition in and out of employment, education and training, and onto independent living.
• Enhancing key worker training to improve the assessment experience, clarifying key questions to ask and data to collect, when and why.
• Ensuring quality and consistency by reviewing training for permanent and temporary staff, applying learning from the case studies.
• Establishing a cross-organisation reference group, meeting regularly to review and refine the delivery model.
• Implementing a regular campaign to ensure all key workers are informed about the offer.

Points to consider

• Data quality and indicators limited this evaluation as data from Inform (Centrepoint’s internal data management system) and Outcomes Star data (distance travelled tool) were patchy and inconsistent.
• Measuring improvements in financial capability using MAS’s Adult Outcomes Framework and Centrepoint’s theory of change was complex, and many participants were unable to isolate the effects of the project from wider support received.
• The project timeframe was too short to measure the sustainability of outcomes. This was exacerbated by recruitment challenges, causing delays to fieldwork.

• The evidence produced was mostly at level 2 on the Nesta Standards of Evidence scale.
• Selection bias existed as participants opted-in to be interviewed. Additional interviews were built in to compensate for attrition, but follow-up interviews fell short of the target. (A smaller sample size of 13 second interviews and seven third interviews were achieved against a target of 20 interviews at each stage).
• Given the small sample sizes, caution should be used in interpreting the results and they should not be generalised to the wider population.

• The evaluation provides some insights into improving the financial capability and outcomes of participants with vulnerable and complex needs. The findings are limited in relevance to this field of enquiry.

Full report

Moneywise evaluation - full report