You're in the Right Spot: Responding to Pregnancy and Homelessness: Evaluation of the Cornelia ProgramEvaluation of the Cornelia Program: Final Report

The Cornelia Program is a critical intervention for women experiencing pregnancy and homelessness who would otherwise have few specialised housing and support options. The perinatal and antenatal periods are crucial for establishing stability, security, good health, and assured parenting practices that have long-term impacts on the lives of mothers and their children. Using a longitudinal, mixed-methods approach, this evaluation aimed to understand whether the work of the Cornelia Program has helped the women and their babies using the service, and how effective the program has been to this end. In total, the research team engaged 35 stakeholders comprising 15 service users, seven Cornelia operational staff, five senior managers from partnership organisations, and eight participants from seven external service providers. Alongside this qualitative data, administrative data from the Cornelia Program and routine perinatal data from the Royal Women’s Hospital were collected and analysed to help inform the findings of this report. This report provides evidence that the Cornelia Program is delivering an essential service that is achieving outstanding longer-term results, particularly in the areas of housing sustainment, service engagement, mother-baby bonding, and parenting skills.