Rethinking Rapid Re-housing: toward Sustainable Housing for Homeless Populations
نویسنده
چکیده
LAURIE BALL COOPER & ANA VOHRYZEK INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 308 I. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE D.C. HOMELESS POPULATION ........................................................ 312 A. Characteristics of D.C.’s Homeless Population Based on the 2015 Point-in-Time Survey ..... 312 B. What Information Is Likely Missing? Critiques of Point-in-Time Surveys as Measures of Homelessness .......................................................................................................................... 314 II. RAPID RE-HOUSING: GOALS, LIMITATIONS and EXPECTATIONS ............................................. 316 A. The Current Rapid Re-Housing Model Does Not Place Individuals at a Sustainable Rent to Income Ratio, Even During the Program. ............................................................................ 318 B. There Is a Glaring Mismatch Between D.C.’s Rental Market and Typical Incomes for Homeless Individuals .............................................................................................................. 319 1. Fair Market Rents in D.C. .................................................................................................... 319 2. Income in D.C...................................................................................................................... 320 3. The Income-Rent Mismatch ................................................................................................ 320 4. Significance of the Mismatch for Rapid Re-Housing .......................................................... 321 III. LIMITED DATA IS AVAILABLE REGARDING RAPID RE-HOUSING’S RESULTS AND THE PEOPLE MOST LIKELY TO BENEFIT FROM THE PROGRAM ...................................... 322 A. Studies on Rapid Re-Housing’s Effectiveness Compared to Other Subsidized Housing and Shelter-Based Programs .................................................................................................... 323 B. Studies Offer Only Limited Information About Which Populations Are Most Likely to Benefit from Rapid Re-Housing .............................................................................................. 325 IV. RAPID RE-HOUSING’S CURRENT MODEL COULD BENEFIT A NARROW SUBSET OF THE HOMELESS POPULATION WITH SOME PROGRAM MODIFICATIONS ...................... 326 A. Targeting the Right Populations .............................................................................................. 326 B. Length of Short-Term Subsidy ................................................................................................ 328 C. Enforceable Rights .................................................................................................................. 329 D. Safeguards for the Unexpected ................................................................................................ 329 E. Other Barriers to Renting ......................................................................................................... 330 V. LINKING RAPID RE-HOUSING TO LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS FOR THE RENT-INCOME MISMATCH IN THE DISTRICT COULD EXPAND THE GROUP OF BENEFICIARIES LIKELY TO SUCCEED THROUGH RAPID RE-HOUSING ASSISTANCE ............................... 330 A. Creating and Preserving Affordable Housing for Very Low-Income Households .................. 330 B. Rapid Re-Housing as a Bridge Subsidy to Long-Term Subsidized Housing ........................... 332
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