J-PAL North America launches Homelessness Evaluation Resource Hub to drive evidence-informed approaches to housing stability.
J-PAL North America, a research center in the MIT Department of Economics, launched a free online hub with briefs and training modules to help people use and produce evidence on reducing homelessness.
J-PAL North America, a research and policy center in the MIT Department of Economics, has launched a free online Homelessness Evaluation Resource Hub. The hub is a public collection of multimedia material developed with a grant from Google.org. According to MIT, it is meant to give decision-makers basic tools for using evidence to reduce homelessness and improve housing stability.
The center says rigorous evidence is critical for finding effective solutions, but limits on time, funding and other resources can make it hard to produce or find. The hub is aimed at researchers, policymakers and practitioners who want to evaluate their own programs, add to the research on what works, or draw on existing studies. A virtual event to mark the launch was scheduled for Oct. 27.
The Using Evidence section offers newly written two-page policy briefs that summarize experimental and quasi-experimental research on five interventions: Housing First, emergency financial assistance, case management, legal assistance in housing court, and housing vouchers. More briefs are planned. The section also includes J-PAL North America's 2019 Evidence Review, which synthesizes results from 40 rigorous evaluations of 18 distinct programs on preventing and reducing homelessness in North America.
The Generating Evidence section has seven modules on foundational ideas in impact evaluation, including ethics, data and measurement, and opportunities for randomization, along with guidance on applying them in the homelessness sector. J-PAL says these build on its experience training more than 30,000 learners over two decades.
David Phillips of the University of Notre Dame's Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) served as scientific advisor. He said the hub "builds shared language for research design" so that practitioners and academics can work together more easily. Laina Sonterblum, who oversees J-PAL North America's housing and homelessness portfolio, said the aim was "a free, accessible entry point for anyone curious about how evidence can be a tool for learning." The resources also draw on nearly 20 informational interviews with researchers, intermediaries, government leaders and service providers, and were developed with LEO at Notre Dame.
At a Glance
- The hub is free and was developed with a grant from Google.org.
- It includes two-page policy briefs on five interventions, among them Housing First and housing vouchers.
- Seven modules cover evaluation basics such as ethics, data and measurement, and randomization.
- The 2019 Evidence Review in the hub synthesizes 40 evaluations of 18 homelessness programs.
- A virtual launch event was scheduled for Oct. 27.
Sources
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