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EFFECTS OF ASSESSMENT AND ASSIGNMENT REGIMES ON CHARACTERISTICS OF PARTICIPANTS IN HOUSING PROGRAMS FOR PEOPLE EMERGING FROM HOMELESSNESS by FLORA ALEXANDRA BREWER Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON May 2021 Copyright © by Flora Alexandra Brewer 2021 All Rights Reserved ii Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ xii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................. 16 Assessment and Assignment: Evolution of A&A Systems in TX-601................................. 18 Problem Statement and Justification ..................................................................................... 26 Research Questions and Research Strategy .......................................................................... 29 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 32 Evolution of Homelessness Theory ...................................................................................... 32 Understanding US Homelessness Systems: Application of Theory and Literature ............. 51 Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................................... 67 Approach, author stance, and theoretical frameworks .......................................................... 67 Case Selection and Characteristics ....................................................................................... 73 Research Questions, Data, and Methodology ....................................................................... 86 Summary: Methodology and Data ...................................................................................... 108 Chapter 4: Program Participant Characteristics by Assessment & Assignment Regime ........... 111 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 111 Priority Populations: Veterans, Families, Youth, Chronically Homeless ........................... 114 iii Vulnerability ....................................................................................................................... 131 Race..................................................................................................................................... 148 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 153 Chapter 5: Characteristics of Participants and Homelessness Pathways .................................... 160 Length of homelessness ...................................................................................................... 162 Families ............................................................................................................................... 165 Chronic homelessness ......................................................................................................... 172 Vulnerability ....................................................................................................................... 174 Vulnerability and Families .................................................................................................. 179 Housing Location, Community Context, and Racial Disparities ........................................ 182 Pathways Analysis .............................................................................................................. 185 Exclusion............................................................................................................................. 190 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 197 Chapter 6 Policy Implications of Assessment & Assignment System Impact ........................... 203 Automated Regime Participant Characteristics .................................................................. 204 Changes in Housing Program Participants and Programs .................................................. 207 Implications for Program Design and A&A Criteria .......................................................... 211 Summary and Implications for Program and System Design ............................................. 215 Chapter 7 Conclusions, Policy Implications, and Future Research ............................................ 221 iv Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 221 Policy Implications ............................................................................................................. 251 Research Limitations .......................................................................................................... 258 Future Research .................................................................................................................. 261 Appendix: Methodology and Data .............................................................................................. 269 Annual Performance Reports and Data Sets ....................................................................... 269 Master List of Projects Included in APR Data.................................................................... 279 Subject Recruiting Documents and Interview Script .......................................................... 284 Glossary ...................................................................................................................................... 303 References ................................................................................................................................... 305 v Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without the guidance and support of the UTA faculty. My heartfelt thanks to Dr. Ivonne Audirac, mentor and advisor, who put me on the path to producing this work on the first day of my first semester. Her patience, insight, and interest made this work better. To Dr. Rod Hissong, for leading me to appreciate the important work of economists in the field of homelessness. To Dr. Karabi Bezboruah for tough questions and for her passion and respect for nonprofit organizations and the people who work there. And to my incisive editor and spirit lifter, John Dycus. To my student colleagues who gave me the opportunity to work with them on the North Texas Regional Housing Assessment, two years that deepened my understanding of the housing field: Drs. Myriam Igoufe, Lorin Carter, Eric Varela, and Indira Manandhar, To all the people I have known and admired working on homelessness in the TX-601 Continuum of Care. You have taught me more than I can ever possibly give back to you. Thank you for your fellowship, expertise, insight, hard work, and commitment through more than 20 years of initiatives and particularly for your support for this research project. Special thanks to Bruce Frankel and Dr. James Petrovich for talking me through the dark times. I am especially indebted to the 31 people who chose to trust me with the stories of their journeys through homelessness for this research. You are amazing people. To my Mavens, brilliant nonprofit leaders and dearest friends without whom I might have given up! And to my children who continuously lift me up with their confidence in me. And finally, to my long-suffering husband, Mike. I could never have done this without your support. I owe you and payback starts now! vi Abstract EFFECTS OF ASSESSMENT AND ASSIGNMENT REGIMES ON CHARACTERISTICS OF PARTICIPANTS IN HOUSING PROGRAMS FOR PEOPLE EMERGING FROM HOMELESSNESS Flora Alexandra Brewer The University of Texas at Arlington, 2021 Supervising Professor: Ivonne Audirac, PhD Homelessness response systems evolved over the last 20 years into institutional regimes that assess and assign homeless people to a limited set of housing programs based on individual characteristics and experiences of homelessness through Coordinated Entry Systems (CES). CESs have become a central feature of US homelessness systems and are now required of all communities receiving HUD funding through the Continuum of Care (CoC) program, the nation’s largest source of funding for homelessness assistance. In theory, housing program assignments are based on criteria reflecting an assessment of participants’ degree of vulnerability for incurring greater harm if left homeless and an assumed capacity for developing self- sufficiency (i.e., exiting from homelessness and sustaining housing without assistance). Informed by theory explaining the causes of homelessness and a pathways research framework, this project investigates the impact of assessment and assignment (A&A) regimes, i.e., systems used to assess the needs of homeless