Understanding Rapid Re-housing: Findings from Initial Interviews with Rapid Re-housing Participants

This report for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) summarizes findings from interviews with 30 people who participated in rapid re-housing (RRH) programs. Overwhelmingly, the people interviewed felt immense relief to be out of homeless situations, but some moved into situations that were still problematic—for example, living in neighborhoods that felt unsafe or challenged their sobriety, or living in housing units with shortcomings. The report offers suggestions for HUD, including:

• Developing more robust networks of landlords willing to house program participants.
• Providing assistance removing evictions from participant records to improve the likelihood of placement.
• More formal coordination between RRH and other housing resources in the community to help with both long and short-term housing placements.

This report is part of our Understanding Rapid Re-housing project. Additional resources include:

• RRH Repository Dashboard  
• Rapid Re-housing in 2018: Program Features and Assistance Models