Keep Families Housed Pilot
Families are an important part of the city’s homelessness strategy. In 2017, the city partnered with the Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA) on Keep Families Housed, a pilot program with a funding investment of $263,000. The Keep Families Housed pilot aims to prevent families from falling into homelessness by providing them with up to three short-term rental assistance payments throughout the year to stay in current housing. The second and third payments are tied to families completing actions to improve family stability and long-term well-being for children.
Family Homelessness - Keeping Families Housed (FULL) from City of Boulder on Vimeo .
Evaluation
In 2017, 332 families received a first rental assistance payment, 268 a second payment and 160 a third payment. OMNI Institute conducted an evaluation of the Keep Families Housed pilot year (2017). None of the families surveyed for the OMNI evaluation became homeless after participating in the program. The evaluation also found significant improvements in the percentage of families who indicated a safe, stable, or thriving situation in the areas of employment, income, food and money management when assessed via the Self Sufficiency Matrix (SSM) tool.
Keep Families Housed Participants Achieving Stability Benchmarks in 2017
| Well-Being Benchmark:* | Total: |
|---|---|
| Eligible children enrolled in health insurance | 532 |
| Enrolled in school, General Education Development (GED), or graduated | 503 |
| Medical check-up in the past year | 166 |
| Eligible children receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) benefits | 155 |
| Dental check-up in the past year | 153 |
| Parents have completed at least 1 Boulder County Financial Stability class, or participated in a 1:1 financial session with Boulder County Community Education | 148 |
| School District Infinite Campus connection for parents of school-age children to access real-time data on attendance, grades and assignments | 132 |
| Early education home visitation for children age 3 and under | 50 |
| Parental visit compliance | 16 |
*Not all benchmarks are applicable to all families.
Family Change to Safe, Stable or Thriving in SSM Domains
Note. Percentage of families scoring above the prevention line on each SSM domain (i.e., score of 3 or higher). McNemar’s Test. **p<.01.
Funding for the Keep Families Housed program continued in 2018. The city also provides ongoing support for families experiencing, or at risk for homelessness through the city’s Family Resource Schools program and funding support to Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (SPAN), Mother House and other EFAA programs.