St. Matthews House Evaluation

ABSTRACT In operation for over 35 years, St. Matthew’s House, established after the Healing Place Model (Louisville, KY) is a community-rooted organization with a mission to change lives in a Christian faith- based environment that is both compassionate and disciplined. Inspired by faith, St. Matthew’s House provides housing for those experiencing homelessness, food for those experiencing hunger, and comfort for those experiencing addiction and suffering. As St. Matthew’s provides critical support services to reduce morbidity and mortality from substance use disorder among its residents, it’s imperative to conduct a robust evaluation of their comprehensive program to begin to understand the overall contributions of St. Matthew’s House to the larger community. Partnering since 2019 on the development, expansion and quality improvement of recovery housing and other recovery support services, The University of Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (UK), and Fletcher Group, Inc. (FGI) will bring combined resources and expertise to conduct a robust evaluation of St. Matthew’s House program. The collaborative team will collect, and review outcomes data and other information generated by St. Matthews (SM) over the last decade to evaluate the program’s effectiveness. In collaboration with SMs, a final report will be prepared, and a paper will be prepared for submission to peer reviewed journals to disseminate information on SM’s unique recovery model. The study protocol will be divided into two phases. In Phase I, SM leadership and staff will be interviewed by the study team to determine the desired focus of the evaluation and to help the study team understand the operations and current data collection processes. From these interviews the evaluation protocol that meets SM’s goals and expectations will be finalized. Then data will be collected and prepared for analysis. The main outcomes of interest for the process and outcomes evaluation will include measures of recovery capital from clients, return on investment of the program, and protocol review in comparison to evidence-based practices for recovery housing.