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Breaking Barriers met many of its goals within the first year of implementation

• Placing an emphasis early on communication across partners, using the experience of the selected partners, and providing a client-focused program with a one-stop shop for housing, case management, and employment services were key to the program's implementation success.
• Stakeholders mentioned concerns about external circumstances, such as operating in a large, dispersed region that lacks affordable housing options and an employment program based out of one location.

Most participants did not achieve great gains in employment and associated income during the two-year program period

• The program successfully housed more than 80 percent of participants, despite the challenges regarding the lack of affordable housing in Los Angeles County.
• It appeared that the program did a better job at serving older, non-Hispanic populations in terms of obtaining housing, and men were more likely to be employed than women. Also, being young and white appeared to be associated with an increased risk of having a felony reconviction.
• A little more than half of participants (56 percent) were employed at some point during the program. Of those employed, they worked an average of 31 hours per week and earned $12 per hour.
• For participants who received the full Breaking Barriers intervention (i.e., housing, case management, and employment services), the felony reconviction rate was 13 percent, which is lower than the rate among individuals with prior felonies in California (more than 20 percent).

Many individuals on probation in Los Angeles County face challenges with housing and employment, placing them at risk for further involvement with the criminal justice system. To address the needs of this population, Los Angeles County piloted a program called Breaking Barriers to provide adults on probation with a time-limited rental housing subsidy and housing retention services coupled with case management and employment supports. The primary goals of the Breaking Barriers pilot program were to (1) reduce recidivism, (2) improve participants' housing stability, and (3) improve employment incomes sufficiently for individuals to take over their own rental payments by the end of the program period.

This report presents feedback from formative and summative evaluations that were conducted to help provide early findings from this innovative housing-employment initiative. Among the findings, for example, the program successfully housed more than 80 percent of participants, despite the challenges regarding the lack of affordable housing. Researchers also found that most participants did not achieve great gains in employment and associated income during the two-year program period. Each day of housing was associated with a 25-cent increase in the participants' contribution to rent. However, participants who had been in the program for two years were contributing on average only 19 percent of the total rental amount. For participants who received the full Breaking Barriers intervention (i.e., housing, case management, and employment services), the felony reconviction rate was 13 percent, which is lower than the rate among individuals with prior felonies in California (greater than 20 percent).

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Program Overview

• Chapter Three

  Evaluation Design

• Chapter Four

  Findings

• Chapter Five

  Key Findings, Recommendations, and Limitations

• Appendix A

  Stakeholder Interview Protocol

• Appendix B

  Technical Appendix