Five dimensions to help you understand your system and what's driving outcomes in your homeless response work.
Most homeless response systems have strong programs. What they often lack is the structural architecture to understand whether those programs are producing the outcomes they're designed to achieve — and why.
ALEA™ — the Apex Learning and Evaluation Architecture — is a five-dimension framework for examining the structural factors shaping your system's outcomes. It isn't a compliance tool. It isn't a redesign prescription. It's a structured way to look at why your system is getting the results it's getting.
Each dimension examines a different layer of your system — from how your programs are designed relative to your mission, to how information from the field reaches and influences leadership decisions.
Not a compliance checklist or HUD reporting tool
Not a system redesign framework or change mandate
Not a tool that claims to diagnose problems with certainty
Not a one-size-fits-all solution for every CoC context
A structured lens for examining the influences and variables shaping your outcomes
Each dimension examines a different structural aspect of your homeless response system and the variables that may be shaping your outcomes.
Are your programs actually designed to do what your mission says they will?
This dimension examines whether your programs are structurally aligned with your stated mission — looking at program design, target populations, service models, and whether the theory of change connecting program activities to mission outcomes is coherent and realistic.
Are you measuring what matters — or what's easy to report?
This dimension examines the metrics your system uses to track performance — whether they capture meaningful progress toward housing stability, whether they incentivize the right behaviors among staff and providers, and whether they give leadership an accurate picture of system performance.
Does your system have the staffing, resources, and infrastructure to do what's being asked of it?
This dimension looks at whether your system is structurally positioned to achieve what it's been asked to achieve — examining staffing levels, skill mix, funding stability, physical infrastructure, and whether resource allocation matches strategic priorities.
Is your data giving you a complete picture — or just a partial one?
This dimension examines data quality, HMIS completeness, and whether your measurement practices capture what's actually happening in your system. It looks at data gaps, collection inconsistencies, and whether the data your leadership relies on reflects operational reality.
Does what happens in the field actually influence decisions at the leadership level?
This dimension examines the feedback loops between frontline practice and system-level decision making — whether information flows upward effectively, whether leadership decisions reflect what's actually happening on the ground, and whether the governance structure enables responsive adaptation.
Download the free Layer 1 worksheet to begin examining Purpose & Mission Alignment in your system — or explore the full resource library for additional tools.