Oregon's REACH Program Evaluation Summary
Abstract
The Oregon Housing and Community Services Department implemented
its REACH project in twenty-six Oregon counties. They include rural
areas of Western Oregon (served by ACCESS, CAT, Inc., CSC, JOCO,
UCAN), urban areas of Western Oregon (served by Clackamas Co. SS,
Multnomah CAPO, CAO, LANE), and sparsely populated areas of Eastern
Oregon (served by CCN, CAPECO, MidColumbia). These areas represent
85 percent of Oregon's low-income population and include Oregon's
two enterprise communities - the Illinois Valley, Wolf Creek, and
Sunny Valley areas of Josephine County and the north Portland area
of Multnomah County.
The Department contracted with 13 community-based organizations,
listed above, to deliver the services.
Grant Amount
$1,600,000, which includes $100,000 for energy education.
Duration
Two years
Goals
Oregon's REACH program attempted to develop resource management
skills that led low-income households to:
- Reduce their energy consumption
- Remain current in their fuel bill payments
- Reduce home heating and/or cooling costs
- Eliminate health and safety risks to family members
Client Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to participate in the REACH program, a family receiving
LIHEAP Assistance must be spending at least twenty percent (20%)
of their household income on energy costs and have an arrearage
that exceeds $100. Participants were also chosen if their house
structure or heating equipment represented a potential health or
safety risk and if they appeared to be strongly motivated to participate.
The local REACH coordinators selected the participants in the program.
Client Services
Services and benefits included the following: co-payments on energy
bills, energy education, residential repair and weatherization assistance,
family services related to budget management and payment plans,
and case management. Local agencies leveraged resources for REACH
operations and negotiated with energy suppliers to develop payment
plans for reducing arrearages of REACH participants.
The program was structured on the needs of individual households;
each household received a somewhat different package of services.
Each package was negotiated separately with each client, based on
household need and service availability in the community.
The REACH evaluation, completed by Public Policy Research in December
1999, focused on a representative sample of 286 participants who
occupied all-electric homes. The evaluation was designed with a
control group and two treatment groups. The control group was selected
from a sample of LIHEAP recipients who received an energy assistance
payment and in-office education but didn't participate in the REACH
program. One treatment group received education and weatherization,
while the second treatment group received education and all the
program benefits that the first treatment group did, but didn't
receive the weatherization/equipment repair component.
Outcomes
The evaluation examined if and to what extent REACH's impact had
on participants by assessing the following three measures: 1) utility
arrearages, 2) energy consumption, and 3) household energy burden.
Regression analyses were used to determine the findings listed below.
- In the year they participated in the program, both groups of
REACH participants consumed 11 percent less energy (metered electricity)
than they had in the pre-REACH year.
Additional analyses of the follow up period revealed reductions
in weather-normalized energy use persisted in the treatment groups
a year after the program ended.
- Both groups of REACH clients reduced the amount of their utility
arrearages as a result of their participation in the program.
The education group experienced a 42 percent reduction, while
the education and weatherization group achieved 48 percent reduction.
- Participation in the program also led to an average decline
of 2.5 percent in the energy burden for both experimental groups.
The program served 1,578 households in its two-year operation.
All clients were asked to complete an exit questionnaire about their
REACH experience. The consensus of participants during both years
the Client Survey was administered was that REACH was extremely
beneficial to their families. Over two-thirds of the participants
said that REACH had helped to make their homes healthier and safer.
Additionally, 80 percent reported that REACH had helped to make
their homes more comfortable and energy efficient.
According to the evaluation, REACH also aimed to ensure that 50
percent of the households would not incur new arrearages after six
months. The results show that initially 59 percent of clients had
arrearages, but after participation in the program only 36 percent
continued to have arrearages.
The program attempted to lower energy consumption by 15 percent
in 75 percent of the homes. The analysis revealed that this reduction
was 15 percent or more for only 23 percent of the participants.
The program, therefore, did not achieve the targeted goal of reduction,
but the program did surpass the target level for completion of household
action plans.
A copy of the evaluation is available on the web at:
http://www.hcs.state.or.us/community_resources/energy_wx/reach/pdfs/reachevalu.pdf
Contact: Lynda Marquam
LIHEAP Program Manager
Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services
(503) 986-2094
lmarquam@hes.state.or.us
Page Last Updated: December 7, 2005
