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Subgroups
Eighteen public housing agencies across seven states recruited and randomly assigned households receiving Housing Choice Voucher assistance to an intervention or a comparison condition from October 2013 to December 2014. Applicants were heads of household and were eligible if they were not currently participating in FSS, were age 18 or older, and were in good standing with the housing authority. Participants had either undergone annual or interim recertification in the 120 days before enrollment, or did a new certification at the time of enrollment. Interested individuals often attended orientation, enrolled, and could begin goal setting in the same day. Participants signed a contract of participation and completed an individualized plan at enrollment. A total of 2,656 households were randomly assigned to the intervention or comparison condition. Some households withdrew voluntarily, were determined to be ineligible for FSS, or had heads of household age 62 or older and were removed from the study, leaving 2,556 households (1,285 in the intervention group and 1,271 in the comparison group).
The program was scheduled to be studied for five years. This study includes findings through Year 2.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Individuals involved in the study were heads of households receiving public housing assistance. Participants were between the ages of 19 and 61 and had an average age of 39. Most were female (91 percent); single (84 percent); and Black, not Hispanic (73 percent). About one-third had received a Housing Choice Voucher for 10 years or more, and only 5 percent had received a voucher less than a year ago.
Public housing authorities
The FSS program was established in 1990 and operates at about 700 public housing agencies.
Heads of Housing Choice Voucher households worked with case managers who helped participants set self-sufficiency goals, including at least one employment-related and one cash assistance goal, and get referrals to needed services such as employment, education, financial management, or counseling services. Families with housing vouchers paid 30 percent of any increases in earnings toward rent. For participants in the intervention condition, the increase in rent was credited to an escrow account that earns interest. If the head of household was employed and completes their goals, and no family members received Temporary Assistance for Needy Families for at least 12 months, participants received the amount in their escrow account; if participants exited the program without completing their goals, they did not receive the funds. Typically, goals had to be completed within five years.
Individuals assigned to the comparison group could not participate in FSS or build escrow through FSS for three years after enrollment. They received information about community services.
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Participants typically received services for up to five years, with the possibility of extending for two additional years. When participants met their goals, they exited the program and received their escrow account funds, even if this was before five years had passed.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
The program took place in 18 public housing agencies across 7 states: California, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, and Texas. Housing authorities varied in size and urbanicity.
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