Many families experiencing housing insecurity can feel trapped. Government assistance that helps them stay housed, fed, and healthy can cut off just as families begin to earn a little more money. It also cuts off long before it is possible to gain the education and experience needed to enter the middle class. The DC Department of Human Services (DHS) is piloting the Career Mobility Action Plan (Career MAP), a program that offers five years of rental assistance, career coaching, and cash payments to cover the loss of government assistance as families earn more. The Lab is helping design the program and evaluate its impact on jobs, income, and performance in school using a randomized evaluation. The findings will inform how the District assists families in the future.
Why is this issue important in DC?
In August 2022, there were roughly 3,300 families in DHS’s Family Re-Housing Stabilization Program (FRSP). These families had experienced homelessness, and most did not have resources to get the education and training that leads to higher-paying jobs. Worse still, government assistance usually cut off just as families started to earn more. For most FRSP families this meant that earning more could leave them with less money to meet their needs.
What did we do?
DHS and the Lab started by engaging eligible FRSP families to learn about their goals, needs, and challenges. We led 10 in-depth interviews and an interactive small group session with FRSP families. The families’ inputs helped decide which services to include in Career MAP. We also helped build the application forms using plain language and user testing, which yielded over 1,400 applications.
From August through December 2022, The Lab and DHS ran a random lottery to fill 600 spots in Career MAP. The families who enrolled will receive rental discounts, cash payments of up to $10,000 per year if their earnings increase, and support from a Navigator. Navigators are the families’ coaches and advocates. Navigators help them overcome challenges like finding quality housing, training programs, and reliable childcare. Families also receive support with job placement and advancement into higher wage opportunities.
The Lab will help measure Career MAP’s impact on jobs, wages, stable housing, education, and family well-being.
What have we learned?
Our interviews and co-design sessions highlighted many of the barriers Career MAP families face. The two top concerns for most families who have experienced homelessness were eviction and stability for their children. Most parents wanted to work, but their biggest barrier was lack of child-care that met their needs. Many are interested in mental health support, but some find it hard to get assistance. Building peer networks for families to connect with and help each other was also of interest.
“If I had sustainable housing in a safe area, with reduced rent that allows me to save a couple hundred to put in the bank [and] my savings account, that would help me to ultimately reach my goals.”
What comes next?
We will begin analyzing the first year of results in Winter 2024. Throughout the program we will work with DHS to adapt the program to participants’ needs.
What happened behind the scenes?
The Lab and DHS also worked closely with the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Richmond to examine the impact of benefit losses and ensure Career MAP benefits addressed the biggest cliffs families face. The Federal Reserve created a calculator to help Navigators and families anticipate these cliffs.