# RFA-CE-24-034 :Evaluating the impact of PHLHousing+ on child welfare involvement

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2024 · $295,549

## Abstract

The objective of the proposal is to test whether programs that improve housing security reduce exposure to
violence for low-income renters who, in the city of Philadelphia, are disproportionately Black. This objective will
be met using data from the PHLHousing+ Evaluation – a housing-focused guaranteed income experiment
designed as a randomized controlled trial. The PHLHousing+ Evaluation comprises three groups, all of whom
earn below 50% area median income and have at least one child under the age of 16 years living at home: 300
households who receive monthly cash payments in lieu of a rental voucher (Cash group), 300 households in
receipt of a rental voucher (Voucher group), and 789 households on the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA)
waitlist who have not, to date, been offered a rental voucher because of their randomized position on the
waitlist (Control group). Of the 1,389 households in the study, 83% are headed by single women and 83% are
Black. There are 2,678 children in the sample, ranging in age from 1 to 16 years (median = 10, IQR = 5-15). At
enrollment, monthly cash payments ranged from $89 to $2079, with a median payment of $881; payments
varied based on household income, family size, and fair market rent. Households in the Cash group will
receive monthly payments for 2.5 years. All three groups are surveyed every six months for three years via an
online survey; two waves of surveys have already been conducted, with the first deployed in August 2022.
Surveys include questions about housing security, quality, and mobility, neighborhood quality, financial security
and spending, and parent and child well-being. We propose to link household-level data on group membership
with data on investigated and substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect from Philadelphia's Department
of Human Services (DHS), Philadelphia county's child protective service. We also propose to link households'
residential addresses with publicly-available block-level data from the Philadelphia Police Department on
violent crime and fatal and nonfatal shootings. Aim 1 is to test whether randomization to the Cash or Voucher
(versus Control) arms of the study reduces rates of substantiated child abuse and neglect and acceptance for
formal child welfare services. Aim 2 is to test whether randomization to the Cash arm of the study (versus
Voucher or Control) is associated with lower rates of exposure to gun violence and violent and nonviolent
crime. Aim 3 is to test whether randomization to the Cash or Voucher (versus Control) arms of the study
promotes equity by reducing oversurveillance of families in poverty. The proposed research is consistent with
the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control's strategic priority to evaluate the effectiveness of policies
designed to enhance the economic environment to reduce multiple forms of violence. Study findings will have
immediate implications for the City of Philadelphia's model for providing housing assistance...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10993472
- **Project number:** 1U01CE003656-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** SARA R JAFFEE
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $295,549
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-30 → 2027-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10993472

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10993472, RFA-CE-24-034 :Evaluating the impact of PHLHousing+ on child welfare involvement (1U01CE003656-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/10993472. Licensed CC0.

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