Study of Emergency Financial Assistance

This study used a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effect of Emergency Financial Assistance (EFA) in addressing housing crises by leveraging variation in whether funds were available on a day-to-day basis to form a comparison group. Individuals in need of emergency financial assistance to pay their rent or utilities could call Chicago's 3-1-1 hotline, which was routed to the Homeless Prevention Contact Center (HPCC). HPCC intake specialists gathered demographic characteristics from callers and assessed their eligibility. Crises eligible for EFA had to meet all of the following requirements: (1) were on a list of eligible crises (such as job loss), (2) were linked to imminent risk of homelessness (such as an eviction notice), (3) were solvable with limited financial assistance (typically less than $1,500), and (4) were temporary in nature, evidenced by sufficient future income to pay essential expenses. If the caller was eligible, the intake specialist checked a list of delegate agencies to see if there were emergency funds available that day for a referral. Funding availability varied considerably over time, ranging from 30 to 90 percent of eligible requests being funded in a given week. The study used administrative tax record data to compare approximately 5,300 individuals referred to emergency financial assistance as the program group to 2,800 individuals who were eligible but were not referred for assistance due to a lack of available funds at the time of the request as the comparison group (sample sizes were rounded in the study due to privacy restrictions). The study also conducted a subgroup analysis of effects among 4,000 individuals identified as having low wages at baseline.