Evaluation of the Supportive Services Demonstration

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of Policy Research and Development is undertaking an evaluation of the Supportive Services Demonstration (demonstration, or SSD). SSD is designed to test the impact of housing-based supportive services on the healthcare utilization and housing stability of low-income adults aged 62 and over. The demonstration offers grant funding to HUD-assisted multifamily property owners to implement the Integrated Wellness in Supportive Housing (IWISH) model over the demonstration period. The IWISH model features a full-time on-site Resident Wellness Director with a part-time Wellness Nurse at each property funded to implement IWISH. The Resident Wellness Director and Wellness Nurse work together to implement a formal strategy for coordinating services to help residents meet their long-term care needs and successfully age in place. HUD designed the SSD as a cluster-randomized controlled trial to allow rigorous measurement of impacts. HUD published a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) in January 2016 for the demonstration, received more than 700 responses, and applied screening and ranking criteria described in the NOFA to identify 185 properties across seven states as eligible for random assignment. HUD assigned properties to three groups: a treatment group that received grant funding to hire the Resident Wellness Director and Wellness Nurse and implement the demonstration; an active control group that did not receive funding for implementation but received an incentive for participating in the evaluation; and a passive control group that received neither an implementation grant nor an incentive. The final demonstration sample is 124 HUD-assisted properties: 40 in the treatment group (also known as IWISH properties), 40 in the active control group, and 44 in the passive control group. All properties serve households headed by people aged 62 or over, either predominantly or exclusively. The properties are in the following states: California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and South Carolina. Each state has treatment, active control, and passive control properties. The demonstration formally began October 1, 2017. The 40 properties in the treatment group implemented IWISH for an initial three-year demonstration period between October 2017 and September 2020. The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 provided additional funds and authorization to extend the demonstration for an additional two years (2021 – 2023).

The latest form for Evaluation of the Supportive Services Demonstration expires 2026-05-31 and can be found here.

Interviews with Resident Wellness Directors

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Community and Social Services - Community and Regional Development