CBRR provided families with immediate temporary housing and rental assistance. Most families also received services while in temporary housing, which helped them search for permanent housing. These services included assistance with upfront moving costs, limited case management, and housing search assistance and placement. Families were eligible for CBRR for up to 18 months, but most received 7 to 8 months of assistance. Families were eligible for CBRR if they had spent a week or longer in an emergency homeless shelter and had a child age 15 or younger. CBRR also reassessed family eligibility every three months to make sure families continued to meet housing choice voucher standards. The program took place in 12 locations in the United States: Alameda County, CA; Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Connecticut; Denver, CO; Honolulu, HI; Kansas City, MO; Louisville, KY; Minneapolis, MN; Phoenix, AZ; and Salt Lake City, UT. This evaluation also examined CBRR compared with Permanent Housing Subsidy and Project-Based Transitional Housing.
Summary
CBRR was designed to help families in urgent need find immediate housing and provide services to help them find long-term housing.
Effectiveness rating and effect by outcome domain
View table definitionsScroll to the right to view the rest of the table columns
| Outcome domain | Term | Effectiveness rating | Effect in 2024 dollars and percentages | Effect in standard deviations | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increase earnings | Short-term |  |
|||
| Long-term | 
|
$693 per year
|
0.019 | 1110 | |
| Very long-term | |
||||
| Increase employment | Short-term | |
|||
| Long-term |
|
0% (in percentage points)
|
0.007 | 1110 | |
| Very long-term | |
||||
| Decrease benefit receipt | Short-term | |
|||
| Long-term | 
|
$179 per year
|
0.052 | 868 | |
| Very long-term | |
||||
| Increase education and training | All measurement periods | |
Studies of this program
| Study quality rating | Study counts per rating |
|---|---|
 High
|
1 |
Implementation details
Cost information
The average cost per participant was $36,891 in 2024 dollars.
This figure is based on cost information reported by authors of the study or studies the Pathways to Work reviewed for this intervention. The Pathways to Work converted that information to a single amount expressed in 2024 dollars; for details, see the FAQ. Where there are multiple studies of an intervention rated high or moderate quality, the Pathways to Work computed the average of costs reported across those studies.
Cost information is not directly comparable across interventions due to differences in the categories of costs reported and the amount of time interventions lasted. Cost information is not an official price tag or guarantee.
State(s) where implemented
Pathways to Work refers to programs by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some program names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.