Homelessness Prevention in King County

Last registered on December 01, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Homelessness Prevention in King County
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002854
Initial registration date
June 08, 2018

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
June 13, 2018, 9:52 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
December 01, 2022, 11:52 AM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
King County, Washington

Primary Investigator

Name
David Phillips
Affiliation
University of Notre Dame
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
James Sullivan
PI Affiliation
University of Notre Dame
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2018-05-01
End date
2022-11-01
Keywords
Other, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Homelessness, homelessness prevention, case management, cash vs. in-kind, emergency financial assistance
JEL code(s)
I38; R38
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Through a randomized controlled trial, we test whether providing personalized case management alongside emergency financial assistance more effectively prevents homelessness than financial assistance alone. For a sample of young adults and families with children who are at risk of homelessness, our results indicate that participants assigned to case management and financial assistance are more likely to access other homeless programs and no less likely to be evicted. Downstream outcomes are mostly unchanged, though arrests increase. Using non-experimental variation across staff, we find that case management is associated with better outcomes when it is more intensive and pays financial assistance quickly.

About LEO:

The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) is a research center in the Department of Economics at the University of Notre Dame that conducts rigorous impact evaluations to identify innovative, effective and scalable anti-poverty programs. LEO’s research is directed by faculty from the University of Notre Dame as well as scholars from across the country with expertise in designing and evaluating the impact of domestic anti-poverty programs. Our research initiatives span a wide range of poverty focus areas.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Phillips, David and James Sullivan. 2022. "Homelessness Prevention in King County ." AEA RCT Registry. December 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2854-3.0
Former Citation
Phillips, David and James Sullivan. 2022. "Homelessness Prevention in King County ." AEA RCT Registry. December 01. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2854/history/164079
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Definition: Case management plus access to flexible funding (standard care)
The current YFHPI intervention involves a combination of case management and flexible funds. Case management is based on a model of progressive engagement, originally piloted by the Domestic Violence Housing First project. Progressive engagement means that case managers customize the level and extent of case management services to a particular client’s situation. Regular case management activities include navigating interactions with landlords, identifying suitable housing, and other housing-specific activities. But case management also regularly includes broader activities related to budgeting, employment, dependent care, etc. that can support housing stability. Case managers aim to develop a relationship of trust that allows the participant to better navigate a path to housing stability.
While purely providing funds for eviction prevention is not the primary design of this program, case managers can directly provide
financial assistance through flexible funds.

Intervention Definition: Immediate Financial Assistance (experimental group)
This intervention is basically the financial assistance part of the standard of care, stripped of the case management element. This is
an experimental intervention that exists for research purposes. The client will be asked to provide verification of their need, but is
eligible for immediate financial assistance after the need has been verified. Funding can be used to cover all of the same expenses
that funding could be used for in the standard YFHPI intervention.
Intervention Start Date
2018-05-01
Intervention End Date
2019-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Use of homelessness services, shelter entry, address stability, evictions
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Child education; Involvement with protective services; criminal justice involvement, physical health, public benefits enrollment
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Randomized Controlled Trial - Each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to either intervention.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by the computer software using during program enrollment.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
No clusters planned.
Sample size: planned number of observations
600
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
300 in each treatment arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Notre Dame
IRB Approval Date
2018-04-04
IRB Approval Number
18-01-4376
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre-Analysis Plan

MD5: b0fc92c1773ad7c020f4eaf0f0e2b164

SHA1: adfac0c9f279e364a0f4503e285bb33ae1d98dd8

Uploaded At: June 14, 2019

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
September 01, 2020, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
November 01, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
N = 631
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
631
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
310 in funds only; 321 in funds + case management
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials