Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration Research Questions

ATTACHMENT A: HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER MOBILITY DEMONSTRATION RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Research Question	Type
1. For voucher families with children, what is the effect of offering CMRS on moves to opportunity areas? (a) What is the effect for existing voucher families? (b) What is the effect for waitlist families?	Confirmatory
(c) Does impact vary by site or (d) for waitlist vs. existing voucher families? (e) Does impact vary based on household characteristics or (f) the characteristics of the families’ origin neighborhood?	Secondary
2. For voucher families with children, what is the effect of offering CMRS on residence in an opportunity area 2 years following receipt of a voucher?	Confirmatory
(a) What is the effect for existing voucher families? (b) What is the effect for waitlist families? (c) Does impact vary by site or (d) for waitlist vs. existing voucher families? (e) Does impact vary based on household characteristics or (f) the characteristics of the households’ origin neighborhood?	Secondary
3. How does the offer of CMRS affect the following secondary outcomes: (a) The characteristics of families’ rental units and tracts? (b) Search times? (c) Lease-up rates for waitlist families? (d) Share of existing voucher families who move? and (e) When existing voucher families move relative to enrollment in the study?	Secondary
4. Which services within the CMRS appear most effective in facilitating moves to opportunity areas? (a) Which services do voucher families, PHAs, mobility services providers, and landlords each report as most or least effective? (b) Does this vary by site? (c) Which services appear most effective for waitlist vs. existing voucher families?	Exploratory
5. What challenges do: (a) PHAs and mobility services providers experience implementing CMRS and SMRS? (b) Existing and waitlist voucher families experience accessing CMRS and SMRS or (c) making moves to opportunity areas? (d) Landlords report with CMRS and SMRS?	Exploratory
6. Which site- and household-level factors affect the success of CMRS and SMRS in facilitating moves to opportunity areas?	Exploratory
7. How do implementation and fidelity to model vary across sites?	Exploratory
8. What are the costs associated with CMRS and SMRS? (a) What are the costs of individual service components? (b) How do the costs of each component compare to its perceived effectiveness?	Secondary
(c) How do the costs compare with the expected long-term benefits implied by impact estimates and long-term effects estimated by prior studies?	Exploratory
9. For voucher families with children, what is the effect of offering SMRS on moves to opportunity areas?	Confirmatory
What is the effect for existing voucher families? What is the effect for waitlist families? (c) Does impact vary by site, (d) for waitlist vs. existing voucher families, or (e) the different bundles of SMRS? (f) Does impact vary based on household characteristics or (g) the characteristics of the households’ origin neighborhood?	Secondary
10. For voucher families with children, what is the effect of offering SMRS on residence in an opportunity area 2 years following receipt of a voucher?	Confirmatory
(a) What is the effect for existing voucher families? (b) What is the effect for waitlist families? (c) Does impact vary by site, (d) for waitlist vs. existing voucher families, or (e) the different bundles of SMRS? (f) Does impact vary based on household characteristics or (g) the characteristics of the households’ origin neighborhood?	Secondary
11. Are families offered SMRS less likely to move to opportunity areas than similar families who are offered CMRS?	Confirmatory
(a) Does impact vary for waitlist vs. existing voucher families? (b) Does impact vary by site or (c) the different bundles of SMRS?	Secondary
12. How does the offer of SMRS affect the following secondary outcomes: (a) The characteristics of families’ rental units and tracts? (b) Search times? (c) Lease-up rates for waitlist families? (d) Share of existing voucher families who move? and (e) When existing voucher families move relative to enrollment in the study?	Secondary
13. How do the costs compare with the expected long-term benefits implied by impact estimates and long-term effects estimated by prior studies?	Exploratory
What is the effect of the offer of CMRS and SMRS on housing outcomes to be collected at a later point in time? What are the effects of an offer of CMRS / SMRS on the quality and safety of the housing occupied by voucher families? What are the effects of an offer of CMRS/ SMRS on housing stability?	Exploratory
What is the effect of the offer of CMRS and SMRS on adult outcomes to be collected at a later point in time? What are the effects of an offer of CMRS/SMRS on adults’ health outcomes? What are the effects of an offer of CMRS/SMRS on adults’ employment and earnings outcomes?	Exploratory
What is the effect of the offer of CMRS and SMRS on child outcomes to be collected at a later point in time? What are the effects of an offer of CMRS / SMRS on the development of young children? What are the effects of an offer of CMRS / SMRS on children’s health outcomes? What are the effects of an offer of CMRS / SMRS on the educational outcomes of children? What are the effects of an offer of CMRS / SMRS on the employment and educational outcomes of young adults who were young children when their family enrolled in the demonstration?	Exploratory

Notes: CMRS = comprehensive mobility-related services; SMRS = selected mobility-related services. Waitlist families are families selected from the voucher waiting list. Existing voucher families are families that already have a voucher at the time they enroll into the Demonstration.

2