The U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of Policy Research and Development
is undertaking an evaluation of the Supportive Services
Demonstration (demonstration, or SSD). SSD is designed to test the
impact of housing-based supportive services on the healthcare
utilization and housing stability of low-income adults aged 62 and
over. The demonstration offers grant funding to HUD-assisted
multifamily property owners to implement the Integrated Wellness in
Supportive Housing (IWISH) model over the demonstration period. The
IWISH model features a full-time on-site Resident Wellness Director
with a part-time Wellness Nurse at each property funded to
implement IWISH. The Resident Wellness Director and Wellness Nurse
work together to implement a formal strategy for coordinating
services to help residents meet their long-term care needs and
successfully age in place. HUD designed the SSD as a
cluster-randomized controlled trial to allow rigorous measurement
of impacts. HUD published a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)
in January 2016 for the demonstration, received more than 700
responses, and applied screening and ranking criteria described in
the NOFA to identify 185 properties across seven states as eligible
for random assignment. HUD assigned properties to three groups: a
treatment group that received grant funding to hire the Resident
Wellness Director and Wellness Nurse and implement the
demonstration; an active control group that did not receive funding
for implementation but received an incentive for participating in
the evaluation; and a passive control group that received neither
an implementation grant nor an incentive. The final demonstration
sample is 124 HUD-assisted properties: 40 in the treatment group
(also known as IWISH properties), 40 in the active control group,
and 44 in the passive control group. All properties serve
households headed by people aged 62 or over, either predominantly
or exclusively. The properties are in the following states:
California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New
Jersey, and South Carolina. Each state has treatment, active
control, and passive control properties. The demonstration formally
began October 1, 2017. The 40 properties in the treatment group
implemented IWISH for an initial three-year demonstration period
between October 2017 and September 2020. The Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act and the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 provided additional funds and
authorization to extend the demonstration for an additional two
years (2021 – 2023).
US Code:
12
USC 1701z-1 Name of Law: Research and Demonstration
To determine the impact of
IWISH on healthcare utilization and housing stability, the
evaluation will compare outcomes for residents at treatment
properties, where IWISH is implemented, to the outcomes of
residents at the active and passive control properties, which
represent “business as usual” for HUD multifamily
elderly-designated properties. The evaluation is being conducted in
two parts. The research team has been conducting an evaluation of
the initial three years of the demonstration, from October
2017-September 2020. This first phase of the evaluation is taking
place from October 2017 to 2022. During the second phase of the
evaluation, the research team will continue to evaluate the
demonstration through September 2026. The second part of the
evaluation focuses on the two-year extension period of the
demonstration as well as the transition period between the two
grant-funded demonstration periods. The evaluation of the two-year
SSD extension period is taking place from October 2021 through
September 2026. The evaluation has a qualitative component—the
process study—designed to learn how treatment group properties
implemented the IWISH model and how property staff and residents
responded to it, and a quantitative component—the impact
study—designed to measure the effect of the intervention on key
outcomes related to residents’ use of healthcare services and
housing stability. This is the third process study package
submitted for OMB approval. The first submission, approved November
02, 2018 (OMB Control number 2528-0321), covered the baseline data
collection for the study, which ended in March 2020. The second
submission, approved August 07, 2020 (OMB Control number
2528-0321), covered IWISH staff interviews and interviews with
property owners conducted in summer 2020. This third submission
requests approval for an additional round of interviews with IWISH
staff and property owners, as well as owners of properties in the
control group. It also seeks approval for interviews with residents
of IWISH properties, which is a new data collection activity. All
data collection activities in this request are planned for 2023.
The purpose of the data collection activities in this request is to
collect data from multiple perspectives about the continued
implementation of the demonstration, the strengths and weakness of
the model, and how resident wellness activities compare across
treatment and control properties. This information is necessary to
complete the demonstration’s process study by providing input from
key stakeholders near the end of the demonstration’s two-year
extension period. Data are collected under Title 12, U.S.C. Sec.
1701Z-1 and 2.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
OMB 83c-IWISH.docx
30-Day Notice Supportive Services Demonstration.pdf
Resident Interviews conducted via on demand interpretation