Little published research has examined the post-implementation outcomes of public private partnerships for housing, specifically the Military Privatized Housing Initiative (MPHI) from the perspective of the end user, the Military Family Housing (MFH) resident. Using Mettler and SoRelle's conceptualization of policy feedback theory as the foundation, the purpose of this repeated cross-sectional study was to assess residential satisfaction pre- and post- implementation of the MPHI. The study also addressed the influence of sociodemographic factors on MFH residents' perceived residential satisfaction. Secondary data were collected using 2 Department of Defense surveys administered pre- and post-implementation. An independent-samples t test was used to examine residential satisfaction before and after implementation of the MPHI. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the influence of sociodemographic characteristics on residential satisfaction of MFH residents. Results indicated that privately-managed MFH residents were less satisfied than residents of government-managed MFH (p < .001). Results also showed that paygrade, branch of service, ethnicity/race, and having children or dependents in a household were significant determinants of residential satisfaction for government-managed MFH residents (p < .05). In privately-managed MFH, residents having children or dependents in the household was a significant determinant of residential satisfaction (p < .05). The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to policy makers to continue examination of MPHI outcomes and improve data collection consistency to ensure current housing policies are meeting the needs of military families.

In 1996, the U.S. Congress initiated a change to the Department of Defense (DOD) military family housing program. Applying organizational learning and change theories, this study of the Department of the Air Force (AF) reveals how the AF used $617 million of federal funds and $8.3 billion of matching private investment to significantly upgrade or construct and manage 53,323 AF family housing units. Using an outcome-oriented process tracing methodology, I examine the process changes, organizational structure modifications, and strategy adjustments the AF instituted to implement this latest attempt at providing military family housing. To understand how those adjustments occurred, this research uses organizational routine theory to help explain how organizations generate change by performing their day-to-day activities. This single-case historical study of AF family housing privatization, used process tracing to identify five primary organizational routines that determine know when there is a minimally sufficient explanation of how the AF learned and changed while privatizing the existing military family housing stock. These organizational routines help to clarify the organizational strategy, implementation process, and structure changes that emerged during privatization to address the quality, quantity, affordability, and timeliness of AF military family housing. The AF approach to transforming military family housing might be applicable to other publicly funded housing programs. / Ph. D.

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / The Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) represents a dramatic revision in the construction and maintenance of military housing. Since its inception in 1996, the number of projects has grown exponentially and the learning process has been continuous and steep. This thesis researches the effectiveness of the methods in place at the Department of Defense and Service levels to document, share, and, above all, learn from past experiences. This analysis reviews the cumulative documented lessons from all Services and compares it to the lessons learned within the first jointly partnered privatization project at the Presidio of Monterey (POM) and Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California. This research showed at least six lessons previously documented within the lessons learned system, which were relearned at the POM/NPS project. Given this data, the lessons learned program is a partial success but overall has a positive impact on the MHPI. The current lessons learned program improves each new privatization project ensuring it does not experience all of the same lessons from previous projects. Only a few lessons seem to slip through the cracks and are repeated even after documentation and distribution. / Captain, United States Army