The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness
Interagency Council on Homelessness
Getting a job and earning a living wage are important pathways out of homelessness.1 Yet the District knows little about how people experiencing homelessness use employment services like job training and how much they earn. To better understand this issue, the Department of Employment Services (DOES), the Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH), and The Community Partnership (TCP) partnered with The Lab @ DC. We combined and analyzed data to examine the link between the use of employment services and employment and earnings. These analyses have informed the District’s strategy for addressing homelessness, led by ICH.
Why is this issue important in DC?
About 1 in 3 people experiencing homelessness in the District said they had become homeless after losing a job, according to a 2019 survey.2 Half said that employment and income assistance would have kept them from becoming homeless.
A DOES employee welcoming a resident at an American Job Center. (Credit: Department of Employment Services)
What are we doing?
We combined data from the Homeless Management Information System on the use of homeless shelters and services with data on wages and employment services from DOES.3 Linking these data sources allowed us to examine their overlap. We answered questions like:
- What is the average income of people experiencing homelessness?
- How many people experiencing homelessness are being served by our employment programs?
- Are some programs serving more people experiencing homelessness than others?
What have we learned?
We focused on people using the homeless services system from 2015-2018. We learned:
- 1 in 5 people who experienced homelessness between 2015 and 2018 used employment services at some point during the four years.
- People who used employment services had a higher employment rate than those who did not.
- People who used more intensive employment services (beyond just a job search) had higher earnings.
- During the quarter (three-month period) people used homeless services, about 1 in 6 were employed. During the year people used homeless services, only about 1 in 10 were stably employed, meaning they earned wages for four quarters in a row.
- When employed and earning, people using homeless services earn about $4,000 per quarter, or just over $1,300 per month. This is less than what it costs to rent the average studio apartment in the District.4
What comes next?
At the end of 2019, ICH used our analysis to update their strategic plan for ending long-term homelessness in the District, Homeward DC.
“We know that stable housing is a necessary foundation for all things in life – health, education, steady employment, and connection to one’s family and community.”
What happened behind the scenes?
To better understand the District’s employment services, The Lab visited service centers such as DC Career Connections, Project Empowerment, and an American Job Center. Lab members were able to experience how a job seeker would be welcomed into a job center and placed into employment services.