PHLHousing+ is a cash assistance program designed as a randomized controlled trial that both reframes how the U.S. deploys rental assistance and makes critical links between housing assistance programs and broader efforts around universal basic income. We are evaluating this program to test whether a cash transfer, geared toward reducing housing cost burdens, can address existing inequities in who can access and use housing assistance. This study also tests whether a cash transfer improves recipients’ economic and housing stability and autonomy, as well as the economic, academic, and health outcomes and the overall wellbeing of adults and their children. Over 2.5 years, we will survey 1200 families who are randomized to either the treatment or control arms of the study. PHLHousing+ is being conducted in partnership with the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation. The PHLHousing+ Evaluation is generously funded by the William Penn Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the Centers for Disease Control. PHLHousing+ is being conducted in partnership with the Housing Initiative at Penn and the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation.
Our team, led by Professor Vincent Reina, recently published a paper in the journal Cityscape describing the PHLHousing+ Program and lessons learned from the implementation and initial evaluation.
