Life After Supportive Housing (LASH) Readiness Self-Assessment Tool and Action Plan

Innovation Summary: 

Despite growing demand for pathways out of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), organizations lack standardized, evidence-based methods to assess when residents are ready to transition to independent living. Current approaches are often inconsistent, overly provider-driven, and insufficiently centered on tenant voice, creating inefficiencies, potential bias, and missed opportunities for successful exits. 

The Life after Supportive Housing (LASH) Readiness Self-Assessment Tool addresses this gap with a simple, tenant-centered, and research-driven solution. Developed from a comprehensive review of existing tools, quantitative outcome data, and tenant insights, LASH enables residents to self-assess readiness across key domains while linking results to a structured, collaborative action plan. This transforms readiness evaluation into a consistent, scalable, and empowering process that supports sustainable transitions

Applications:

• Ongoing readiness tracking: Conduct quarterly or semi-annual self-assessments to monitor tenant progress

• Service planning: Translate assessment results into actionable, personalized transition plans

• Program optimization: Complement in-depth tools to support fair and transparent allocation of move-on resources

• Tenant engagement: Foster collaboration and shared decision-making between residents and providers

Advantages:

• Evidence-based approach grounded in multi-source research and real-world outcomes 

• Simple and scalable design with a user-friendly scoring system for rapid adoption

• Tenant-centered framework emphasizing self-determination, strengths, and personalization

• Action-oriented insights that directly connect assessment results to concrete next steps

• Improved equity and transparency through standardized, consistent evaluation processes

Publication: 

Tiderington, E. (2026, February 12). Developing the Life After Supportive Housing (LASH) Readiness Self-Assessment Tool to promote successful exits from permanent supportive housing. Final Report. Washington (DC): National Alliance to End Homelessness. https://endhomelessness.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Successful-PSH-Exits-1.pdf

Intellectual Property & Development Status: Document available for licensing and download.