Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Program: Process Evaluation Report

The Section 811 Project Rental Assistance (PRA) program, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), provides affordable rental housing for extremely low-income nonelderly people with disabilities. The program gives rental assistance funding to state housing finance agencies that work in partnership with state human services and Medicaid agencies to create community-based supportive housing. In funding years 2012 and 2013, HUD awarded PRA grants totaling $236 million in rental subsidies to 29 state housing finance agencies. 

In 2015, Abt Global and BCT Partners began working together on the first phase of a two-phase evaluation of the PRA program.

This report presents the results of a process evaluation of 12 states’ experiences implementing the Section 811 Project Rental Assistance program. It focuses on the initial 18 months of program implementation (January 2015 through June 2016) and analyzes differences in program design, target population, and housing and service strategies. The overarching research questions include an assessment of the following aspects of program implementation: characteristics of the partnerships between state housing and health and human services and Medicaid agencies; property and unit selection strategies and initial results; target population outreach, referral approaches, and initial results; supportive services availability; and major implementation challenges and successes.

Research conducted and lessons learned in the Section 811 PRA process evaluation report and case studies are informing subsequent phases of the evaluation of the program. The Phase II evaluation is currently under way to address ongoing program implementation, begin to examine participant-level outcomes and access to services, and estimate PRA program costs.

Read the Six Case Studies on the Implementation Experience of the 2012 Grantees.