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Home for now: A mixed-methods evaluation of a short-term housing support program for homeless families

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  • Meschede, Tatjana
  • Chaganti, Sara

Abstract

The use of short-term rental subsidy vouchers offers a new approach to addressing the housing needs of families facing homelessness. In Massachusetts, the Family Home pilot program placed homeless families in housing instead of shelter, providing two years of rental subsidy plus support services with the goal of enabling families to maintain market rate housing. This mixed-method case study complements staff and participant interview data with participant survey and administrative data to evaluate the implementation and short-term outcomes of Family Home in one region. Data point to improved family well-being in housing but also persistent barriers to achieving longer-term housing and economic stability. Of the families who had exited the program at the end of the study, one quarter were able to retain their housing at market rate, only 9% returned to shelter, and one in five moved in with families/friends. Lack of affordable housing in a high rental cost region and jobs that pay living wages were among the major reasons that families struggled to maintain housing. This research points to the need for integrating supportive services from the program's start, including targeted workforce development, to plan for the end of the short-term rental subsidy.

Suggested Citation

  • Meschede, Tatjana & Chaganti, Sara, 2015. "Home for now: A mixed-methods evaluation of a short-term housing support program for homeless families," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 85-95.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:epplan:v:52:y:2015:i:c:p:85-95
    DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2015.03.009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ellen L. Bassuk & Stephanie Geller, 2006. "The role of housing and services in ending family homelessness," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 781-806, January.
    2. Cutts, D.B. & Meyers, A.F. & Black, M.M. & Casey, P.H. & Chilton, M. & Cook, J.T. & Geppert, J. & De Cuba, S.E. & Heeren, T. & Coleman, S. & Rose-Jacobs, R. & Frank, D.A., 2011. "US housing insecurity and the health of very young children," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(8), pages 1508-1514.
    3. Bassuk, E.L. & Rosenberg, L., 1988. "Why does family homelessness occur? A case-control study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 78(7), pages 783-788.
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    Cited by:

    1. Raya, Josep Maria & Torres-Pruñonosa, Jose, 2022. "The importance of administrative data in the evaluation of the incidence of social housing allowance programmes," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Pelucha, Martin & Kveton, Viktor & Potluka, Oto, 2019. "Using mixed method approach in measuring effects of training in firms: Case study of the European Social Fund support," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 146-155.
    3. Minjung Cho, 2020. "Housing Workers’ Evaluations of Residential Environmental Quality in South Korean Welfare Housing for Low-Income, Single-Parent Families," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-23, July.

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