Does Rapid Re-Housing Reduce Homelessness?

• In Event: Strengthening Rapid Re-Housing Programs

Abstract

Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) programs provide short-term rental subsidies to help people experiencing homelessness secure market-rate housing. Using linked administrative data from Los Angeles County, we examine the causal effects of RRH on subsequent homelessness, as well as health, crime, public assistance, and labor market outcomes. We compare the outcomes of more than 3,500 individuals and families who enrolled in an RRH program and received the subsidy (that is, leased up) to otherwise similar people who enrolled in the same RRH program in the same month but did not lease up. Participants who leased up received an average subsidy of $1,500 per month for seven months, with families receiving more generous subsidies than individuals. 

Close to two-thirds of those who enrolled in RRH in our sample leased up and, importantly for our identification strategy, those who did and did not lease up were similar along more than 30 pre-program characteristics. Plausibly exogenous market factors likely affected whether a participant leased up; for example, the tight housing market in LA limits the overall supply of appropriate rental units.

Leasing up reduced homeless service use by 12 percentage points over 4 years, a 28% reduction relative to a comparison mean of 44%. The reduction was similar for individuals and families. Although RRH was originally designed for people who may only need temporary financial help, we find reductions for groups with different baseline levels of need: those with and without prior employment and prior criminal justice involvement. We also find that leasing up decreased broader housing instability based on reports of literal homelessness and doubling up available in administrative public assistance records.

Although effects persisted after the end of the subsidy period for both individuals and families, the reduction was longer-lasting for families and faded out for individuals after three years. Likewise, leasing up improved health and criminal justice outcomes and increased income from public assistance programs for families, but not individuals. We find no evidence that leasing up reduced employment or earnings for either group based on statewide administrative data. The results indicate that short-term rental subsidies can meaningfully reduce homelessness, especially for families.

Author

• Brian Blackwell, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author