No Easy Decisions: Developing an Evidence-Informed Process to Allocate Housing Choice Vouchers to Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

ABSTRACT

This article describes the development of an evidence-informed screening tool and process to allocate 25 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) to homeless and unstably housed survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) through an innovative pilot program called SASH (Survivors Achieving Stable Housing). Informed by empirical and community-defined evidence, the screening tool comprised two forms, a survivor self-referral form and a form completed by a domestic violence (DV) advocate on the survivor’s behalf. Responses were scored such that higher scores indicated fewer barriers to the SASH definition of housing success (i.e., to lease up with and maintain an HCV). We received 92 applications, primarily from survivors living in DV shelters. Of those, 31 were excluded; the remaining 61 were randomized into either the voucher or the queue group. Survivors needed considerable advocacy from the SASH team to move through the public housing authority application process as well as financial assistance to lease up. Lessons learned during the SASH project have important implications for DV and housing practitioners, especially those involved in developing coordinated entry procedures. These lessons include the utility and feasibility of screening questions and tools, moral dilemmas of resource allocation, and challenges of working across siloed systems and policies.

KEYWORDS:

• assessment
• domestic violence
• intimate partner violence
• homelessness
• Housing Choice Voucher
• screening

Acknowledgments

We thank the many domestic violence advocates and other community stakeholders who graciously contributed to the development and implementation of the SASH project.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kristie Thomas

Kristie A. Thomas, PhD, MSW, is an Associate Professor at the Simmons University School of Social Work. Dr. Thomas conducts interdisciplinary, community-based research on intimate partner violence that aims to improve services for economically and socially marginalized survivors and their families.

Jill T. Messing

Jill T. Messing Messing, MSW, PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and the Director of the Office of Gender-Based Violence at Arizona State University. Dr. Messing specializes in intervention research and is particularly interested in the use of risk assessment to tailor interventions for survivors of intimate partner violence.

Allison Ward-Lasher

Allison Ward-Lasher, MSW, served as project manager of the SASH project while working on her doctoral degree at Arizona State University.

Allie Bones

Allie Bones, MSW, currently serves as the Assistant Secretary of State in the administration of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Throughout her career, she has held a variety of governmental and advocacy positions focusing on ending gender-based violence, homelessness and hunger. Most recently, she was the Chief Executive Officer of the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (ACESDV) for 11 years from 2008-2019, during which time she managed the organization through tremendous growth and transformation.