How do we know what works?
When thinking about assessing the impact of Humboldt Gardens’ GOALS program, which is the project‘s version of HUD‘s Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS), it is useful to know the program‘s context. The concept of FSS is straightforward — parents participate in programming designed to promote employment and financial stability, working with a case manager to set goals. During the five-year program, any additional rent the participants would be paying due to increased earnings are placed in an Individual Development Account as savings, which are accessed upon graduation.[1] Folks living in public housing or using Housing Choice Vouchers may be able to participate in FSS.
In the early 2000s, researchers from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities who evaluated FSS titled their report “HUD”s Best Kept Secret for Promoting Income and Asset Growth.”[2] Despite that rosy title, results for program participants over time suggest a more nuanced reality — while those who graduate seem to do well with employment and earnings, many don’t complete the program. Moreover, differences in outcomes for participants compared to non-participants are not always statistically significant.
These findings and varied program designs in the field make it complicated to translate learning from experiences into implementation. The many optional components of the program, plus partnerships that a local housing authority might develop, mean that there are a huge number of permutations for how FSS can operate. For example, FSS might include job skills training with or without “soft skills;” could address the entire family unit or just one parent as the participant; or could focus on financial literacy and empowerment or self-esteem.[3] Complexity is further introduced because housing authorities can opt for different approaches to case management, such as how check-ins occur.
For a local housing authority trying to determine how to design and implement FSS, translating research studies into practice can thus be challenging. Studies that employ traditional research designs— such as nationally drawn random samples, pre-and post-tests, and control group comparisons— don’t provide detailed information about which elements of a program are most important, and how the local context and individual family challenges interact with program choices and implementation.
The interplay of program features, case management styles, and the complications of life for low-income families are complex and explain why research results on FSS programs are so mixed. From our interviews with residents and staff at Home Forward and its partner agencies, we can recognize that there isn’t one FSS program that works the same way for everyone. A clear-cut conclusion on “what works” is further complicated by the change from mandatory to voluntary participation, staffing changes, and the evolution of the community-based organization landscape in a gentrifying neighborhood. However, through our approach of looking at program implementation, context, and participants’ agency, my team is aiming to provide practitioners with some actionable knowledge. This will include findings about which elements might be most important for success, and guidance about how to think through adjustments to program features or approaches based on context and participant feedback.
I am hopeful that this knowledge will help future iterations of FSS implemented by housing authorities across the country be more effective, helping more people to set and achieve their goals for stability and success.
[1] https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=FSSFactSheet_Feb2016.pdf
[2] https://www.cbpp.org/archiveSite/4-12-01hous.pdf
[3] https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=FY16FSS_BPReportCochran.pdf