Rapid Re-Housing of Families Experiencing Homelessness in Massachusetts: Maintaining Housing Stability

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“Recovery Act”) provided $1.5 billion for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP), a temporary program that addressed both homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing of families already experiencing homelessness. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocated $44.5 million, including $26.1 million to individual Massachusetts communities and $18.4 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Of its funds, the state allocated $8.3 million for rapid re-housing of families who were living in shelters or motels. This report explores the experiences of 486 of these families who received rapid re-housing assistance from six agencies in four regions of the state. The Center for Social Policy (CSP) at the University of Massachusetts Boston analyzed data about these families to develop a profile of the characteristics of participant families, their assets and barriers related to housing and economic stability, and housing outcomes after 12 to 18 months of program participation. In addition, CSP also completed interviews with staff of each agency, a focus group of Boston area staff, and a detailed review of a selection of case files to provide additional, rich details about the circumstances of individual families