Study Details | Pathways to Work

2910.01-Study of Los Angeles

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because it is a quasi-experimental design that does not adjust estimated impacts for potentially important differences between the program and comparison groups.

Program: Los Angeles' Homeless Opportunity Providing Employment (HOPE)

Characteristics of study participants:

Adults (age 25+), Disability(ies), Homelessness, Mental health condition, Unemployed

Services provided:

Case management, Housing supports and subsidies, Job readiness, Job search assistance, Mental health services, Occupational or sectoral training, Post-employment participant follow-up, Subsidized employment/transitional jobs, Unpaid work experience/internships, Work supports

Setting: Urban only

Methods and Standards Protocol version used for review: Version 1.0

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Study design

Design:

Quasi-experimental design

Study group formation:

The study used a data system that was shared by 19 Integrated Services for Homeless Adults with Serious Mental Illness programs. The authors used a quasi-experimental design to compare participants in LA’s HOPE with two separate groups of individuals that were not given access to LA’s HOPE services. The study compared LA’s HOPE to two other groups. The first comparison group consisted of individuals enrolled in programming in the same sites as the LA’s HOPE participants but who were not enrolled in LA’s HOPE. The authors reported that there was spillover between this group and the LA’s HOPE group. The other comparison group consisted of individuals enrolled in programming in different sites than the LA’s HOPE participants. This review focuses on comparing the LA’s HOPE group with the group of individuals not enrolled in LA's HOPE but enrolled in the same sites as the LA's HOPE participants.

Time period of study:

Individuals were enrolled from late winter 2003 until May 2007. Data was collected on participants through June 2007.

Pathways to Work only reports results from studies with a study quality rating of high or moderate.

Sample characteristics

Age

Young adults (age 16-24)	4%
Adults (age 25+)	96%
Older adults (age 50+)	9%

Sex

Female	47%
Male	53%

Race and ethnicity

Black or African American	64%
White	21%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

Employment and public benefit status

Were employed	7%
Were unemployed	93%

Specific employment barriers

Had a disability	100%
Had a mental illness	100%
Had a substance abuse disorder	50%
Were experiencing homelessness	100%

Program implementation

Implementing organization:

Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Department of Mental Health, and Los Angeles Community Development Department

Program services:

LA’s HOPE clients participate in an Integrated Services for Homeless Adults with Serious Mental Illness program. Participants also receive case management, housing, and employment support (such as job search assistance, trainings, resume development, and job coaching).

Mandatory services:

None.

Comparison services:

Clients in the comparison condition enrolled in an Integrated Services for Homeless Adults with Serious Mental Illness program at a site that also served LA’s HOPE. Although these participants did not formally participate in LA’s HOPE, they did receive access to an employment specialist and might have experienced some spillover from the LA’s HOPE employment-related activities.

Study publications

Burt, Martha (2007). Evaluation of LA’s HOPE: Ending chronic homelessness through employment and housing—Final report, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Department of Labor. Available at https://www.urban.org/research/publication/evaluation-las-hope/view/full_report.

Burt, Martha (2012). Impact of housing and work supports on outcomes for chronically homeless adults with mental illness: LA's HOPE. Psychiatry Online, 63(3), 209-215. Available at https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/appi.ps.201100100.

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

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.

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Study of Los Angeles' Homeless Opportunity Providing Employment (HOPE) versus Other Services at the Same Sites