Evaluating MTW Flexibility for Smaller PHAs: Baseline Report

Authors: Buron, Larry     Peck, Laura     Geyer, Judy     Sousa, Tanya de     Morrill, Tyler     Ortiz, Edoardo     Sierks, Cara     Walton, Douglas     Yetvin, Will     Abt Associates    

The evaluation of the first cohort of agencies participating in the MTW expansion focuses on how smaller PHAs use the flexibility offered by their new MTW designation to achieve the statutory objectives of the MTW program and what the consequences of that flexibility are for housing authority operations and tenants. Structured as a randomized controlled trial, the evaluation will compare the outcomes of the first cohort of MTW expansion applicants that were randomly selected to apply for MTW designation (treatment group) to the outcomes of the MTW expansion applicants that were not randomly selected to apply for MTW designation (control group). To supplement the findings of the experimental analysis, the research design also includes a quasi-experimental component through the establishment of a larger matched comparison group that will enable analysis by subgroups of PHAs within the treatment group and comparison group. This baseline report is the first of five annual reports that will be generated under this evaluation. Using data from PHA applications and telephone interviews, this first report explores PHA motivations for participating in MTW. The most important objective motivating PHAs to apply for MTW was improving cost-effectiveness (15 PHAs). Many of the PHAs have ambitious plans including: altering the (income and eligibility) reexamination process and using their MTW flexibility to add landlord incentives, implement work requirements, add local non-traditional programs, make changes to their self-sufficiency programs, or use funding fungibility to address programmatic outcomes. Finally, the report documents the characteristics of the PHAs in the evaluation and their tenants prior to MTW designation.

Moving to Work (MTW) Cohort #1 Page

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