 | From Local Innovation to National Implementation: The MTW Demonstration’s Influence on Low-Income Housing PolicyHUD has published a report to communicate the ways in which local innovations by MTW agencies have led to and influenced national policymaking. This report, titled, “From Local Innovation to National Implementation: The MTW Demonstration’s Influence on Low-Income Housing Policy” explores how MTW agencies have led policy change, tested and refined local programs, eventually leading to policy change, and supported the further development of policy change nationally. Author: HUD |
 | Flexibility to Innovate. Solutions that work.The King County Housing Authority, Seattle Housing Authority, and Tacoma Housing Authority partnered to develop a report which explains the transformative nature of MTW flexibility in the Puget Sound region. The piece includes local examples of MTW program initiatives being implemented by these PHAs, and it describes how MTW allows PHAs to be responsive to low-income housing and supportive services needs locally. Author: King County Housing Authority, Seattle Housing Authority, and Tacoma Housing Authority |
 | A Review of Work Requirement Policies in HUD-Funded Assisted Housing: Final Research ReportHUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) contracted with 2M Research to conduct a study of work requirement policies in the Moving to Work (MTW) agencies that have implemented such policies to date. The project had three main components: 1) a literature review focusing on work requirement policies on a subset of relevant public benefit programs, including assisted housing; 2) A series of interviews with a range of industry and advocacy group leaders to gather their perspectives on work requirement policies in HUD-funded assisted housing; and 3) Semi-structured interviews with the nine initial MTW agencies that have ever implemented a work requirement policy. The report documenting outcomes of work requirement policies in the TANF, SNAP, Medicaid and HUD-funded assisted housing programs found few beneficial outcomes, and more than a few negative outcomes, for program participants. The case studies component of the report addresses topics including: motivations for pursuing a work requirement policy, a description of the work requirement policy including monitoring and compliance procedures, and sanctions for noncompliance; perceived outcomes of the policy and the PHA’s perspective of whether the policy is achieving the desired aims. Author: PD&R and 2M Research |
 | Landlord Incentives Cohort ResearchThe PHAs in the Landlord Incentives cohort of the MTW Expansion will implement incentives not available to standard PHAs that encourage landlords to participate in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, including wider payment standard ranges, extra payments (e.g., signing bonus, reimbursements for tenant-caused damage), and flexible timing for housing quality standard (HQS) inspections. To assess impact, the multi-year evaluation will measure landlord willingness to rent to HCV holders, landlord participation in the HCV program, and lease-up success of HCV renters at baseline and two years after LI MTW agencies implement MTW landlord incentives. Outcomes observed at the LI MTW agencies will be compared to those observed at a comparison group of 112 standard PHAs. Author: PD&R and Abt Associates Inc. |
 | Stepped and Tiered Rent Cohort ResearchIn the second cohort of the MTW Expansion, 10 PHAs will test alternative rent policies known as stepped rents and tiered rents. Typically, HUD-assisted households pay rent equal to 30% of their income, so when a household increases their income, they also pay more rent. Under a tiered rent, households are grouped by income into tiers, and everyone in a tier pays the same rent. Small income changes would not affect a household’s rent. Under a stepped rent, households start out paying an income-based rent, but in subsequent years their rent will increase by a small amount regardless of their income. Both of these policies might encourage HUD-assisted households to earn more, and the policies might be easier for PHAs to administer. HUD’s evaluation will focus primarily on testing those hypotheses. Author: PD&R and MDRC |
 | MTW Flexibility for Smaller PHAs Cohort ResearchThe focus of the evaluation of the first cohort of MTW Expansion agencies is to explore how small PHAs use the flexibility offered by their new MTW designation to achieve the statutory objectives of the MTW program and what the consequences of that flexibility are for housing authority operations and tenants. The central research questions of this evaluation crosswalk to the statutory objectives of the MTW program: cost effectiveness, self-sufficiency, and housing choice. HUD aims to understand how PHAs prioritize among the statutory objectives, which MTW flexibilities PHAs think are most critical to achieving the statutory objectives, which MTW flexibilities PHAs pursue, and, ultimately, how the flexibilities pursued affect PHA operations and tenant outcomes. HUD will publish five annual reports as a part of the evaluation of the first MTW Expansion cohort. Author: PD&R and Abt Associates Inc. Baseline Report - Published: May 23, 2023 |
 | HUD Cityscape Symposium Reflects on MTWThe November 2020 issue of Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research features a symposium reflecting on the MTW Demonstration. Six articles report research conducted by Urban Institute and MDRC for a HUD-sponsored retrospective evaluation of MTW. Congress requested an assessment of the MTW demonstration as a whole, rather than studies of initiatives at individual agencies. The six retrospective studies reported on in this symposium offer the first longitudinal analysis and the most comprehensive view to date of MTW agencies, MTW housing assistance, MTW activities, and the performance of MTW agencies in relation to statutory objectives. The essay on HUD’s Rent Reform Demonstration also included here explains MTW’s contribution to a major, groundbreaking study on rent setting in HUD programs. Author: PD&R and Various Outside Authors |
 | MTW Retrospective EvaluationThe HUD-sponsored MTW Retrospective Evaluation will produce six reports that together provide the most comprehensive description to date of the housing assistance provided by MTW agencies, the households served by MTW agencies, and the success of MTW agencies in relation to the demonstration’s statutory objectives of cost effectiveness, self-sufficiency, and housing choice. To learn more, HUD sponsored a retrospective evaluation of MTW, performed by the Urban Institute, designed to assess the success of the demonstration based on administrative data. The six reports are focused on: A Picture of MTW Agencies’ Housing Assistance; MTW Agencies’ Use of Funding Flexibility; Housing Choice and Self-Sufficiency Outcomes at MTW Agencies; the Impact of the MTW Demonstration on the Per Household Costs of Federal Housing Assistance; Evaluating the Effects of the Santa Clara County Housing Authority’s Rent Reform; and MTW Agencies’ Use of Project-Based Voucher Assistance. As the reports are published, they can be found here. Author: Urban Institute |
 | Creating Moves to Opportunity: Experimental Evidence on Barriers to Neighborhood ChoiceThe Creating Moves to Opportunity (CMTO) study examines the results of providing services that reduce the barriers to moving to high-upward-mobility neighborhoods. These services were provided using a randomized controlled trial with Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) participants of the Seattle and King County MTW agencies. Author: Opportunity Insights, Harvard University |
 | The Rent Reform Demonstration: Interim Findings on Implementation, Work, and Other OutcomesThe purpose of the Rent Reform Demonstration is to test an alternative to the current rent-setting system for families using Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV). The demonstration began enrolling voucher holders in 2015 and is operating in four cities at four local MTW public housing agencies. Author: HUD Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) |
 | Public Housing Work Requirements: Case Study on the Chicago Housing AuthorityThis report presents a case study of the Chicago Housing Authority’s (CHA) work requirement policy, one of a small number of work requirements implemented by public housing authorities. The report describes the CHA work requirement, the policy’s implementation and how it has changed, and perceptions of implementation and outcomes from key CHA and service provider staff and residents. The CHA work requirement has been in place for nearly 10 years, allowing for the analysis of implementation over time and outcomes. Author: Urban Institute |
 | Testing Performance Measures for the MTW ProgramThis report summarizes the results of a study to identify and test a series of performance indicators to track the performance of MTW programs in advancing core goals. Author: Abt Associates |
 | MTW and Neighborhood Opportunity: A Scan of Mobility Initiatives by MTW Public Housing AuthoritiesThis report explores how MTW agencies use their unique policy and fiscal flexibilities to help low-income households move to opportunity-rich neighborhoods. Policy and programs adopted through MTW include changes to the tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program or policies that increase the affordable housing supply in opportunity neighborhoods through the Project-Based Voucher (PBV) program. Author: Urban Institute |
 | Innovations in the Moving to Work DemonstrationThis report catalogues and describes those MTW innovations that participating PHAs and the study team consider most important and far-reaching in their effect on residents, the agency, and the local community. The report is largely descriptive and does not attempt to measure the results of the innovations undertaken by MTW PHAs. However, it does classify the innovations, discuss their significance, and explain how they make use of the flexibilities afforded by MTW. Author: Abt Associates |
If your agency or organization has an MTW evaluation that you would like to have included on this page, please send an email to mtw-info@hud.gov and provide the link to the report or copy of the report.
Older evaluations can be viewed on the Research and Evaluation archive page.
Last updated December 17, 2024
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