Breaking Barriers: a Rapid Rehousing and Employment Pilot Program for Adults on Probation in Los Angeles County
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Breaking Barriers: A Rapid Rehousing and Employment Pilot Program for Adults on Probation in Los Angeles County Evaluation Report SARAH B. HUNTER, ADAM SCHERLING, MELISSA FELICIAN, SANGITA M. BAXI, MATTHEW CEFALU SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING Sponsored by Brilliant Corners in partnerships with Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the Los Angeles County Departments of Health Services and Probation For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR4316 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2020 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface In 2015, the Los Angeles County Probation Department, in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Brilliant Corners, Chrysalis, the Corporation of Supportive Housing, and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, initiated the Breaking Barriers program. This program was designed to provide a time-limited housing subsidy, case management, and employment supports to individuals on felony probation and currently experiencing or at risk for homelessness in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Probation Department provided financial support for evaluating the Breaking Barriers program, and the RAND Corporation was selected to serve as the evaluator of this program. RAND researchers conducted a formative evaluation during the first year of program planning and implementation to provide early feedback to stakeholders on program progress and performed a summative evaluation examining program outputs and outcomes among Breaking Barriers program participants after three years of program implementation. This report presents findings from both the formative and summative evaluations, including assessments of the program structure, program goals, outputs, and outcomes. In this report, we discuss recommendations regarding future programming and research. This report should be of interest to state and county governments serving populations on felony probation and other organizations serving criminal justice–involved populations. RAND Social and Economic Well-Being is a division of the RAND Corporation that seeks to actively improve the health and social and economic well-being of populations and communities throughout the world. This research was conducted in the Justice Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being. The program focuses on such topics as access to justice, policing, corrections, drug policy, and court system reform, as well as other policy concerns pertaining to public safety and criminal and civil justice. For more information, email [email protected]. iii Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................................ iii Figures ............................................................................................................................................. v Tables ............................................................................................................................................. vi Summary ....................................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ xiii Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Background ............................................................................................................................................... 2 Purpose and Organization of This Report ................................................................................................. 5 Chapter 2. Program Overview ......................................................................................................... 6 Target Population and Referral Process .................................................................................................... 6 The Breaking Barriers Program Model ..................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 3. Evaluation Design ........................................................................................................ 14 Evaluation Objectives ............................................................................................................................. 14 Methods ................................................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 4. Findings ....................................................................................................................... 19 Key Stakeholder Interviews .................................................................................................................... 19 Recruitment and Enrollment ................................................................................................................... 25 Outcomes ................................................................................................................................................ 33 Chapter 5. Key Findings, Recommendations, and Limitations ..................................................... 42 Key Findings ........................................................................................................................................... 42 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................... 44 Study Limitations .................................................................................................................................... 45 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 45 Appendix A. Stakeholder Interview Protocol ............................................................................... 46 Appendix B. Technical Appendix ................................................................................................. 49 References ..................................................................................................................................... 68 iv Figures Figure 2.1. Breaking Barriers Program Logic Model ..................................................................... 9 Figure 2.2. Workflow Mapping ..................................................................................................... 10 Figure 2.3. Case Management Follows Critical Time Intervention Approach ............................. 12 Figure 4.1. Breaking Barriers Program Participation .................................................................... 26 Figure 4.2. Referral Rates by Program Quarter ............................................................................ 27 Figure 4.3. Enrollment Rates by Program Quarter ........................................................................ 30 Figure B.1. Number of Days Receiving Rental Housing Subsidy Among Participants at Two Years Post-Program Enrollment ............................................................................... 57 Figure B.2. Survival Plot of Days Housed for All Participants Receiving Rental Housing Subsidy ................................................................................................................... 58 Figure B.3. Survival Plot of Days Housed by Age ....................................................................... 59 Figure B.4. Survival Plot of Days Housed by Gender .................................................................. 59 Figure B.5. Survival Plot of Days Housed by Race/Ethnicity ...................................................... 60 Figure B.6. Survival Plot of Days Housed by Educational Attainment ........................................ 60 Figure B.7. Survival Plot of Days Housed by Supervision Status ................................................ 61 Figure B.8. Time to New Felony Conviction ................................................................................ 64 Figure B.9. Time to New Felony Conviction by Age ..................................................................