Evaluating a Permanent Supportive Housing Pay for Success Initiative in Austin, Texas
Highlights
- ECHO is using permanent supportive housing to combat chronic homelessness and reduce use of public crisis services.
- Abt is designing and implementing a multi-component evaluation.
- Results are expected starting in 2022.
Despite growing evidence of the effectiveness of permanent supportive housing, local governments often have difficulty securing the necessary investments to expand the programs. The Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO), in partnership with the Corporation for Supportive Housing and Social Finance, Inc., launched the Austin/Travis County (AT) Home Initiative using a pay for success funding model. AT Home will provide permanent supportive housing to 250 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness who are frequently involved with public crisis services and the criminal justice system.
The evaluation of the AT Home Initiative comprises three sub-studies:
- Outcomes study to determine investor repayment.
- Quasi-experimental impact study.
- Process study.
Each study will contribute to understanding the extent to which the project improves housing stability and reduces health care utilization and criminal justice encounters among the target population.
Results are expected starting 2022.