Quarterly RRH Household Updates

Understanding Rapid Re-housing

Quarterly Household Tracking—Ethnographic Panel

Introduction

Hi, this is NAME calling from Abt Associates about the Rapid Re-housing Study. Is now a good time to talk? Last time we talked was [DATE OF LAST CONTACT]. I’m calling today because we check in periodically with people who are participating in the Rapid Re-housing Study to get updates on a few key topics about your housing situation. The questions will take about 10 minutes to answer. Do you have 10 minutes to talk with me now? Please remember: of course you can stop the conversation any time. And you can choose not to answer any question.

All information you provide is confidential. Your information will be protected to the extent allowed under the law as part of the Privacy Act. This means, for example, that we may need to notify someone if keeping the information confidential could put you or others at risk of harm. Only the interviewer and a small number of staff authorized to work on this research project will see your survey responses. No one at the housing program or other assistance programs will see the information that you share with us.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 2528-XXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is approximately 10 minutes, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

Any information that we collect about you will also be kept confidential to the extent allowed by law. Your name will never be used in any report. Reports for this study will never use your real name or individual identifying information. We will use a pseudonym (fake name) to share information you told us.

Overview

I have some specific areas to ask you about but first I’d just like to hear generally how things have been going for you since [date of last contact].

Thanks for sharing that. [Add appropriate follow-up based on what was shared.]

Targeted Updates

Now I have some specific questions about things that might have changed for you since we last spoke. [Site director note—fill in updates from the overview as applicable.]

Site director instructions:

• Pre-populate the table from the last contact with the participant (for the first quarterly check-in, use baseline interview)

• As possible, go through the full table for updates first, then ask for detail on what happened.

• For any updates/changes, ask tailored probe questions. Begin with template probe question:

  • “You said that X changed in Y way since last time we talked. Can you please tell me more about that?”

Topic	Last check-in [Date—pre-populate this field]	Updates as of [Date of contact]
Housing Situation
What is your current living situation (own unit, doubled-up, shelter, unsheltered, etc.)?
Is this a unit identified/moved into as part of RRH program?
Are you still receiving RRH rent assistance?
Have there been any changes to your RRH assistance since last time we talked?
Have you moved any times since last contact? If yes, how many times? Why did you move? Was housing quality an issue? Other reasons for move?
Have you spent any night homeless or without your own place to stay since last contact?
Current monthly rent (household contribution, not subsidy)
Amount of RRH subsidy
Current monthly utilities
Financial Situation
Have you had any changes in income (amount of income or sources of income)? Get dollar amounts. Include job start/job loss and any months or weeks of significant ups or downs. Get other sources of income (benefits, assistance from family members, informal work)
Have you had any changes in benefits received (SNAP, SSI, SSDI, TANF, WIC, etc.)?
Have you had any negative financial problems or difficulties since last contact (e.g., trouble paying rent or bills, job loss, unexpected expenses, debt sent to collections, benefits not received, etc.)?
Household Context
Have there been any changes to who lives with you since we last talked? (e.g., birth/adoption of child, partner joining or leaving household, marriage, losing a pet) This can include family members moving out or in (temporary or permanent).
Has your household experienced any difficult situations since we last talked (e.g., illnesses or deaths in the family, problems for children at school, arrests/legal issues, child separations, etc.)?
Have there been any other events—positive or negative—you would like to share with me?