The Impacts of Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing on Homeless and Highly Mobile Students - Paper 20-08

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel

Despite a sharp rise in student homelessness in the U.S., evidence on how homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing programs affect students remains limited. This paper evaluates a program combining temporary rental subsidies with light-touch case management for homeless and highly mobile students in a large urban district. Using linked administrative and program data, it estimates short- and medium-term impacts with generalized and event study difference-in-differences models. Results show improved behavior alongside increased absence and chronic absenteeism, especially for students rehoused outside the city.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages79

Reading Time3 h 19 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

1. Introduction

CEPA Working Paper No. 20-08 The Impacts of Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing on Homeless and Highly Mobile Students AUTHORS Elise Dizon-Ross Stanford University ABSTRACT Despite the recent dramatic rise in student homelessness in the U.S. , little research evidence exists on the eﬀects of homelessness programs and interventions on students and young people. This paper examines the eﬀects of a homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing program—which combines temporary rental subsidies with light-touch case management—on homeless and highly mobile students in a large urban school district. By linking detailed district administrative data with programmatic data, I create a novel dataset that allows me to estimate impacts to students in the immediate weeks and months following exposure to the rehousing intervention. Speciﬁcally, I use generalized and event study diﬀerence-in-diﬀerences models to estimate within-student diﬀerences in district and school mobility, attendance, and behavioral outcomes before and after beginning participation in the program. I ﬁnd that the treatment improves student behavior, signiﬁcantly reducing the likelihood of students having multiple behavioral incidents in a month, but increases students’absence rates and chronic absenteeism, particularly for students who are rehoused outside the city proper but remain enrolled in the central district. These results highlight both the positive impacts of this type of intervention, as well as unintended consequences, raising questions around the priorities and inherent tradeoﬀs of rehousing programs. Acknowledgements-This research was supported by funding from the Spencer Foundation, the Institute for Education Sciences (R305B140009), and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Stanford Graduate Fellowship. I would like to thank Thomas Dee, sean reardon, Susanna Loeb, Jelena Obradovic, Francis A. Pearman, and Timothy McQuade, as well as participants at the AEFP Annual Conference and seminar participants at Stanford University for helpful feedback and discussion. Thank you also to my research partners at the anonymous school district and NGO. All mistakes are my own. VERSION July 2020 Suggested citation: Dizon-Ross, E. (2020) . The Impacts of Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing on Homeless and Highly Mobile Students. (CEPA Working Paper No.20-08) . Retrieved from Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis: [http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp20-08](http://cepa.stanford.edu/wp20-08) The Impacts of Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing on Homeless and Highly Mobile Students Elise Dizon-Ross* Stanford University July 2020 This research was supported by funding from the Spencer Foundation, the Institute for Education Sciences (R305B140009), and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Stanford Graduate Fellowship. I would like to thank Thomas Dee, sean reardon, Susanna Loeb, Jelena Obradovic, Francis A. Pearman, and Timothy McQuade, as well as participants at the AEFP Annual Conference and seminar participants at Stanford University for helpful feedback and discussion. Thank you also to my research partners at the anonymous school district and NGO. All mistakes are my own. * Email: [elised@stanford.edu](elised@stanford.edu) Abstract Despite the recent dramatic rise in student homelessness in the U.S., little research evidence exists on the effects of homelessness programs and interventions on students and young people. This paper examines the effects of a homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing program—which combines temporary rental subsidies with light-touch case management—on homeless and highly mobile students in a large urban school district. By linking detailed district administrative data with programmatic data, I create a novel dataset that allows me to estimate impacts to students in the immediate weeks and months following exposure to the rehousing intervention. Specifically, I use generalized and event study differe

FAQs

What program does the paper evaluate for homeless and highly mobile students?

It evaluates a homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing program that combines temporary rental subsidies with light-touch case management.

How are the program impacts estimated?

The study links district administrative data with program data and uses generalized and event study difference-in-differences models to measure within-student changes before and after program participation.

What are the main findings on student outcomes?

The treatment improves student behavior by reducing multiple behavioral incidents, but it also increases absence rates and chronic absenteeism, particularly for students rehoused outside the city while staying enrolled in the central district.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Angel