Project SOAR Closeout Site Visit Summary
Program Evaluation Division, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
June 2020
The Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency for Education (ROSS-ED) Project SOAR grant program was an effort to improve access to higher education for high school students/graduates (15-20 years old) residing in public housing. This report is a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Policy Development and Research (PD&R), of educational navigators and PHA staff from the nine grantee sites. The results of these interviews proved that the program was effective, with many PHAs hoping to not only maintain the program but expand it in the future.
CURS Researchers Examine Labor-Force Participation Among Public Housing Residents
Univesity of North Carolina (UNC) Center for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS)
December 2020
UNC CURS released a report at the end of last year with the intent to explore the labor participation and work force decision-making of residents living in public housing. While many who live in public housing are elderly or disabled (out of the labor-force), researchers found that age, mental health, education level and job training were determinants/barriers for employment for non-employed households. The authors also found that non-employed households face a variety of issues resulting in their reduction in labor participation, depending on individual circumstances, and that these households are not a homogenous group.
The Moving to Work (MTW) Retrospective Evaluation
Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, Volume 22 Number 3
November 2020
This edition of Cityscape covers six submitted studies and an essay detailing the evaluation of the MTW demonstration, a program which supports a great degree of flexibility for PHAs across the nation to utilize in order to best provide housing assistance to low-income households. The studies range in their evaluation of MTW programs, from their cost efficiency to program effectiveness, and to the participating PHAs’ overall innovations in delivering services to public housing residents. This edition of Cityscape also explores international perspectives and comparisons of the MTW program.