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Rapid Rehousing: A New Way to Head Off Homelessness

Officials in Washington and across the country are pushing rapid rehousing as the most promising way to help homeless families move out of shelters and motels and become self-sufficient.

Officials in Washington and across the country are pushing rapid rehousing as the most promising way to help homeless families move out of shelters and motels and become self-sufficient.

 
First introduced on a wide scale by the Obama administration in 2009 as part of the economic stimulus package, it is generally credited with keeping homeless rates from skyrocketing across the country during the recession.
 
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that 83 percent of formerly homeless or about-to-be-homeless people who were put into rapid rehousing were still stably housed two years after their subsidies ended. Other agencies report similarly high rates.
Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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