Strengthening Rapid Re-Housing Programs

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) programs are an increasingly common intervention to address homelessness. They provide participants with a time-limited housing subsidy (to be used in the private rental market) and supportive services. The number of RRH beds increased by more than 100,000 between 2014 and 2024 and its share of all permanent housing beds doubled over that time period. Despite its increasing use, key questions remain about the effectiveness of RRH across populations and how program design and implementation can be strengthened. This panel brings together four studies that examine RRH from complementary perspectives, combining causal impact evaluation with innovations in targeting, post-program supports, and place-based analyses. Together, the papers provide new evidence on both whether RRH reduces homelessness and how its effectiveness can be strengthened across diverse contexts.

The first paper presents a causal analysis of RRH using linked administrative data from Los Angeles County. It finds that RRH reduces homelessness by 28 percent over four years, with stronger and more persistent effects for families than individuals. RRH also improved health and criminal justice outcomes for families, with no evidence of negative labor market impacts for either families or individuals. The second paper addresses a key challenge for RRH programs–how to best prioritize access to scarce RRH subsidies. The researchers designed two new prioritization rankings and implemented them side-by-side in Bexar County, Texas: (a) a simple data-driven algorithm using existing homelessness service system data and (b) the ratings of human experts who staff the homelessness services system. They find that the data-driven algorithm predicts homelessness persistence more accurately than both the status quo tool (the VI-SPDAT) and raw human assessments.

Third, a qualitative study of families exiting RRH in the Bay Area deepens our understanding of how families exiting RRH programs face a benefits cliff, which can leave them vulnerable to eviction, instability, and returns to homelessness. From over 140 in-depth interviews, findings indicate that RRH is effective at initially stabilizing families and that subsequent cash assistance after RRH subsidies end can act as a short-term buffer and offer transitional support. Lastly, a place-based analysis in Los Angeles County finds that RRH reduces recurrent homelessness among transition-aged youth overall, but may be less effective in structurally disadvantaged neighborhoods even after accounting for individual differences, suggesting that local context conditions program impacts.

Together, these findings show that RRH is broadly effective in reducing homelessness but that impacts vary meaningfully across populations and settings. The evidence further suggests that program effectiveness may be improved through complementary strategies, including more effective targeting, post-program cash supports, and context-specific adaptations to local housing and labor market conditions.

Policy Area

• Housing, Community Development, and Urban Policy

Chair

• Max Gross, University of California - Los Angeles

Discussants

• Daniel B Gubits, Abt Global

• Soledad De Gregorio, Abt Global

Organizer

• Max Gross, University of California - Los Angeles

Individual Presentations

• Does Rapid Re-Housing Reduce Homelessness? - Presenting Author: Brian Blackwell, University of California - Los Angeles

• Prioritizing Homelessness Program Access via Algorithm vs. Human Judgment - Presenting Author: David C Phillips, University of Notre Dame

• Beyond the Rapid Rehousing Cliff: Evidence from a Cash Transfer Pilot for Families Exiting Homelessness - Presenting Author: Tessa Napoles, University of California, Berkeley

• Is Rapid Rehousing for Transition-Aged Youth Less Effective in Most Structurally Disadvantaged Areas of LA County - Presenting Author: Jared Nathan Schachner, University of Southern California