Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) programs (also called time-limited subsidies in Los Angeles County) provide short-term rental subsidies to help people experiencing homelessness secure market-rate housing.
Using linked administrative data from Los Angeles County, we examine the causal effects of RRH on subsequent homelessness, as well as health, crime, public assistance, and labor market outcomes. In this working paper, we compare the outcomes of individuals and families who enrolled in an RRH program and received the subsidy (that is, they were able to use the subsidy to “lease up”) to otherwise similar people who enrolled in the same RRH program in the same month but did not lease up.
Participants who leased up received an average subsidy of $1,500 per month for seven months, with families receiving more generous subsidies than individuals. Leasing up reduced homeless service use by 28% over four years, including reductions after the end of the subsidy period for both individuals and families. Effects persisted for families, but faded out for individuals after three years. Likewise, leasing up improved health and criminal justice outcomes and increased income from public assistance programs for families, but not individuals. We find no evidence that leasing up reduced employment or earnings for either group based on statewide administrative earnings data. The results indicate that short-term rental subsidies can meaningfully reduce homelessness, especially for families.
Editor’s note: This working paper builds on our previous research focused on Rapid Rehousing for single adults: Do Time-Limited Subsidy Programs Reduce Homelessness for Single Adults?