Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Rapid re-housing serves those experiencing homelessness by attempting to place them into private-market rental units as quickly as possible. The core components of RRH are housing identification, rent and move-in assistance, and case management and services, although the flexible nature of RRH allows for additional areas of support including utility payments, legal services, credit repair, and landlord mediation. Within federal and grantor rules, RRH providers can structure services in many ways. This discretion is an important part of the rapid re-housing experience, but little is known about how management and program staff make program- and client-level decisions and how these decisions may impact client outcomes. This research uses a mixed-methods design to examine how discretion shapes the implementation and program outcomes of an RRH implementation focusing on single adults by a large, urban homeless service provider. Findings indicate that case managers viewed discretion as both an opportunity and an obstacle to carrying out RRH. Although the prevalence of RRH as a service model has been increasing, the research on its implementation is relatively small. This study contributes to the growing RRH implementation literature.