Study Details | Pathways to Work

101047.02-Study of Paid Transi

Study quality: High

High

Reason for the rating: This study received a high study quality rating because it is a low-attrition randomized controlled trial with no known issues that suggest the findings cannot be attributed to the intervention.

Intervention: Paid Transitional Housing

Population and employment barriers:

Specific employment barriers (Justice involvement)

Services provided:

Case management, Housing supports and subsidies, Soft skills training

Setting: Urban only

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

The study randomly assigned and analyzed 218 individual men released from prison between October 31, 2019 and March 30, 2020 and placed into transitional housing. Participants were recruited from a re-entry centre for men who fell within a medium-to-high risk recidivate category and were within 8 weeks of their scheduled release. The study used the last digits of identification numbers to randomly assign individuals to treatment or comparison conditions, with 110 placed into the treatment category and the remaining 108 placed into the comparison category.

Time period of study:

The study tracked employment data over 15-21 months following the release of participants between March 2020 and May 2020.

Primary outcome domains examined:

Increase short-term employment

Other outcome domains examined:

Recidivism

Study funded by:

Not described, but the study acknowledges A New Leaf, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, the Arizona Department of Housing, and Maricopa County Adult Probation for their collaboration.

Results

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Outcome domain	Measure	Timing	Study quality by finding	Impact	Units	Findings	Sample size
Increase short-term employment	Employed at any time in follow-up period	Not provided	High	34.02	percentage points		97

Short-term outcomes are those measured 18 months or fewer after participants are first offered services. Long-term outcomes are those measured between 18 months and 5 years after participants are first offered services. Very long-term outcomes are those measured 5 years or more after participants are first offered services.

Findings quality key:

High
Moderate

Study quality terms?

The findings quality describe our confidence that a given study’s finding is because of the intervention. We do not display findings that rate low.

Findings key:

A moderate-to-large favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large favorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that might be due to chance
A favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A favorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that might be due to chance
An unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
An unfavorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size or direction
A finding of no effect that might be due to chance

Favorable findings are impacts in a direction that is socially desirable. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a study finding is due to the intervention, rather than due to chance. Findings are described as moderate-to-large if the intervention produced a sufficiently large change in the outcome. An impact receives this designation if the standardized effect size is equal to or greater than 0.25 or equal to or less than -0.25.

Sample characteristics

Based on baseline study population statistics for the full randomized sample (pre- and post-SAHO combined) of formerly incarcerated men, participants represented multiple racial groups (40.00% White, 27.62% Mexican American/National, 23.81% Black), were mostly single (70.79%), and on average, about 39 years old.

Age

Mean age

39 years

Sex

Male

100%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	24%
White	40%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	28%
American Indian or Alaska Native	8%
Another race	1%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

Specific employment barriers

Were involved with the justice system

100%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

Program implemented by certified transitional housing facilities, nonprofit facilitator, and male reentry centres.

Program history:

The study describes the program as a pilot housing programme that started about six months before the implementation of statewide stay-at-home order on March 30, 2020.

Intervention services:

The Paid Transitional Housing (PTH) pilot was designed as a reentry housing intervention that fully covered rent at transitional housing facilities for a period of 3 months. It targeted male adults released from prison who began their time at one of Arizona's re-entry centres, fell within a medium-to-high risk recidivate category, and were 8 weeks away from their release date.

Mandatory services:

Soft skills training; Employment skills development

Comparison services:

The comparison group consisted of the same population of male adults released from prison and placed in transitional housing through re-entry centres, except that they paid for their transitional housing out-of-pocket.

Service receipt duration:

3 months

Intervention funding:

Nonprofit facilitator paid facilities directly after treatment group participants chose placement. The study acknowledges A New Leaf, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, the Arizona Department of Housing, and Maricopa County Adult Probation for their collaboration.

Study publications

Simonds, Raven, Natasha B. Khade, and Jacob T. N. Young (2024). Does Paid Transitional Housing Impact Reentry Outcomes during COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders? Evidence from a Natural Experiment within an RCT, International Journal of Housing Policy 24(2): 246-267. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/194912247.2022.2097852

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

The Pathways Clearinghouse refers to interventions by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some intervention names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.

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Study of Paid Transitional Housing (Post Stay-at-Home Order Cohort)