PHA Web Survey Instrument Topic Overview

APPENDIX B: PHA WEB SURVEY

INSTRUMENT TOPIC OVERVIEW

PHA Survey Sections

Heading	Justification
A. CONTACT AND SCREENER
I. Background Information	In this section, we collect basic information about the respondent, including contact information and employment duration.
II. FUP Screener 1	Three screening questions at the beginning of the survey determine eligibility and pathing. The first screening question determines if the PHA currently operates the FUP. If they have never administered the FUP, they are ineligible for the survey and will exit the interview.
III. FUP Screener 2	The second screening question determines if the agency has served FUP-eligible youth with FUP vouchers in the last 18 months. If they have, they will be routed to “Current FUP for Youth”, Module B.
IV. FUP Screener 3	The third screening item determines if the agency has ever served FUP-eligible youth with FUP-vouchers. If they have, they will be routed to “Past FUP for Youth”, Module C. If they have not, they will be routed to “Never FUP for Youth”, Module D.
B. CURRENT FUP FOR YOUTH
I. PHA’s Historical Use of FUP for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care	Questions in this section address the use of FUP for youth and the reasons PHAs award FUP vouchers to youth aging out of foster care. PHAs who are currently administering FUP to youth are asked when they began administering FUP to youth.
II. Partner PCWA: Contact Information and Collaboration	PHAs currently administering FUP to youth are asked to name their partnering PCWA and provide a contact person so that the partner PCWA may also be surveyed. The remainder of this section is designed to assess the nature of PHA-PCWA partnerships and the degree of collaboration, including PHA’s familiarity with the PCWA’s identification processes, referral procedures, and provision of services, trainings, and agency-to-agency meetings.
III. FUP Vouchers for FUP-Eligible Youth: Voucher Allocation and Process
A. FUP Voucher Allocation	To obtain basic information about how FUP vouchers are allocated and the number of youth being served with these vouchers, we will ask PHAs to provide their agency’s baseline number of FUP vouchers, the number of FUP vouchers currently leased up by FUP-eligible youth, and the percentage of FUP vouchers, if any, currently set aside for FUP-eligible youth.
B. FUP Identification, Referral and Eligibility	This section addresses key research questions regarding program entry including how youth are identified as candidates for a FUP voucher and how the referral process works for identifying eligible youth. For PHAs administering FUP vouchers, we ask about the number of referrals the agency receives in a typical quarter from their partnering PWCA, the percentage of those referred that lease up using FUP vouchers, and whether there is an expedited Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher eligibility process for youth referred by the PWCA.
C. FUP Housing Search and Selection	To better understand the extent of the housing need and adequacy of housing choice for foster youth transitioning to adulthood, this section asks about the search time youth are initially given to find suitable housing, the frequency with which the youth are able to find suitable housing during this time, and the frequency with which voucher term extensions are provided. We also ask about supports the agency may provide to FUP-eligible youth such as housing search assistance, and pre- and post-move counseling.
D. Adequacy of Housing Choice Using FUP	To assess challenges to providing housing assistance for this population, we ask the PHA’s about potential barriers and incentives to landlords leasing to FUP-eligible youth. We also ask about the frequency with which the agency engages in educational outreach to provide information about FUP for youth to landlords and property managers.
E. Tenancy Approval, Lease-Up and Move-In	In this section we determine whether agencies track outcomes of housing voucher recipients and what the outcomes for FUP eligible youth are. We ask about the number of tenancy requests youth make, the percentage of FUP-eligible youth who eventually lease up, and issues such as inspection failures and unreasonable rents.
F. Post-Move In Status and Services	This section addresses outcomes related to housing stability. We ask about how long youth typically stay in their first FUP voucher housing unit, the average number of times FUP-eligible youth move during their term, and how often youth stay for the full 18 months for which they are eligible. We also ask about the frequency and cause of program termination prior to exhaustion of the 18 month housing assistance period.
G. Exiting FUP After 18-Month Limit	In this section, we ask about supportive services the agency may provide, and what steps are taken, if any, to help youth plan for transitioning to other housing once the 18-month time limit expires. We determine if the agency provides transitional counseling or other assistance as the youth approaches their 18-month time limit, the types of services provided as the limit approaches, and if these services are provided automatically or upon request.
IV. Other Housing Options for Foster Youth Aging Out
A. Public Housing	In this and the subsequent section we seek to understand how housing programs are designed, structured, and operated. We ask if the agency currently administers a public housing program, and if so, about general and specific preference categories and preference limits involved in administering the waiting list. We ask where youth who have aged out of foster care and where youth who have reached the 18-month limit fall in these rankings.
B. Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers	We ask if the agency has established preference categories on the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program waiting list, and if so, about general and specific preference categories and preference limits involved in administering the waiting list. We ask where youth who have aged out of foster care and where youth who have reached the 18-month limit fall in these rankings.
V. Progress and Challenges Using FUP	In this section we seek to learn what obstacles agencies have encountered in administered FUP vouchers to youth and ask PHAs to rate the progress they have made using FUP vouchers to address youths’ housing needs.
VI. Perspectives on Practice and Policy	To assess policy-related challenges and barriers to providing housing assistance to youth aging out of foster care, we ask the agency’s opinion on FUP-related statutory requirements and service requirements. For PHAs currently administering FUP to youth, this is the last section of the survey.
C. PAST FUP FOR YOUTH
I. PHA’s History of Using FUP for Foster Youth Aging Out of Care	PHAs who do not currently administer the FUP to youth, but who have done so in the past, are routed to this section based on their response to FUP screener 3. In this section, we ask when the agency began administering FUP and when they most recently served a FUP-eligible youth.
II. Reasons for FUP Vouchers Not Awarded to Foster Youth Aging Out	In this section, we seek to understand why PHAs no longer awarding FUP vouchers to youth have stopped doing so. We also ask how likely these agencies are to serve youth using FUP vouchers in the future and what factors would increase the likelihood that they would do so.
III. Other Housing Options for Foster Youth Aging Out	For PHAs no longer administering FUP to youth, this is the last section of the survey.
A. Public Housing	These questions are designed to determine if agencies not currently administering FUP to youth are using alternative housing programs to address this need. We ask if the agency currently administers a public housing program, and if so, about general and specific preference categories and preference limits involved in administering the waiting list. We ask if the agency rank orders these preferences to establish a hierarchy of applicants, and if so, where youth who have aged out of foster care and where youth who have reached the 18-month limit fall in this ranking.
B. Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers	We ask if the agency has established preference categories on the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program waiting list, and if so, about general and specific preference categories and preference limits involved in administering the waiting list. We ask if the agency rank orders these preferences to establish a hierarchy of applicants, and if so, where youth who have aged out of foster care and where youth who have reached the 18-month limit fall in this ranking. For PHAs not currently administering FUP to youth, but who have done so in the past, this is the last section of the survey.
D. NEVER FUP FOR YOUTH
I. Reasons for FUP Vouchers Not Awarded to Foster Youth	PHAs who are not currently administering the FUP to youth and have never done so will be routed to this section based on their response to FUP screener 3. We will these agencies why they have never allocated FUP vouchers to foster youth aging out of foster care.
A. Public Housing	These questions are designed to determine if agencies who have never administered FUP to youth are using alternative housing programs to address this need. We ask if the agency currently administers a public housing program, and if so, about general and specific preference categories and preference limits involved in administering the waiting list. We ask if the agency rank orders these preferences to establish a hierarchy of applicants, and if so, where youth who have aged out of foster care and where youth who have reached the 18-month limit fall in this ranking.
B. Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers	We ask if the agency has established preference categories on the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program waiting list, and if so, about general and specific preference categories and preference limits involved in administering the waiting list. We ask if the agency rank orders these preferences to establish a hierarchy of applicants, and if so, where youth who have aged out of foster care and where youth who have reached the 18-month limit fall in this ranking. For PHAs who have never administered FUP to youth, this is the last section of the survey.