Moving to Work,Asset Building Cohort Evaluation

The Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) at the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contracted with MEF Associates, with subcontractor Abt Associates, to develop the Research Design and Data Collection and Analysis Plan for an evaluation of the Moving to Work Expansion Asset Building Cohort. As required under the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD seeks approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for data collection instruments for the evaluation. Moving to Work (MTW) is a HUD demonstration that encourages selected PHAs to test ways to increase the cost effectiveness of federal housing programs, encourage greater self-sufficiency of households receiving housing assistance, and increase housing choice for low-income families. MTW designation gives PHAs relief from some regulations and laws that apply to Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) and public housing programs. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 authorized HUD to award MTW authority to 100 additional PHAs by September 2023, and required that new MTW agencies be selected in cohorts with a specific policy focus. The Asset Building Cohort will test two types of asset building programs for HUD households, rent reporting for credit building and an opt-out savings account program. The ABC has 17 PHAs. Of these 17 PHAs, 9 PHAs will implement an opt-out savings program, six PHAs will implement reporting rent payments to credit agencies, and two PHAs have unique asset building programs. The evaluation of the ABC will include these three components: 1) Program Implementation Study 2) Impact Studies: a. Rent Reporting for Credit Building Study i . Quantitative study of impact on credit scores ii. Qualitative study of family experiences with rent reporting b. Opt-Out Savings Account Study i. Household survey To answer the research questions, the evaluation will collect data from multiple sources, including: • Administrative Data o Credit agency data to measure credit scores o HUD administrative data to describe household income and demographics o PHA data to enable random selection of households for the study samples • Program Data o Program documents to describe program implementation and outreach to households o Program data to describe program implementation, such as how many households participated, how much money was deposited by the PHA into the opt-out savings account, and how much the PHA paid to the partner organizations • Primary Data o Program implementation interviews with PHA staff (n=51) o Program implementation interviews with staff of partner organizations (n=12) o Program implementation interviews with HUD-assisted residents (n = 10) o Baseline information form for Rent Reporting study participants (n= 300) o Informed consent form for Rent Reporting study participants (n= 300) o Interviews for Rent Reporting Qualitative study round 1 (n = 40) o Interview for Rent Reporting Qualitative study round 2 (n=40) The data collection activities covered under this ICR are expected to begin in January 2024 and continue through June 2025; phase two of the data collection is expected to begin in June 2025 and continue through January 2027.

The latest form for Moving to Work,Asset Building Cohort Evaluation expires 2029-02-28 and can be found here.

Program Implementation PHA staff interview guide

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