Contract and In-House Research

Improving Educational Opportunity for HUD-Assisted Residents

HUD is partnering with The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Evaluation Sciences (OES) to conduct a research project to evaluate interventions to improve educational opportunities for HUD-assisted residents. The research includes a small pilot that tests the effectiveness of communications (e.g. letters, emails, and phone calls) on increasing completion of Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) among youth in public housing. Another component is an exploratory project to implement and evaluate interventions to increase school attendance rates among HUD-assisted youth. The results are listed below
https://oes.gsa.gov/projects/increasing-fafsa-completion-nycha/
https://oes.gsa.gov/projects/increasing-fafsa-completion-seattle-and-king-county/
https://oes.gsa.gov/projects/increasing-attendance-seattle/

Adult Mental Health Status

By analyzing the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) linked with HUD administrative data, HUD researchers are collaborating with university partners to examine the mental health status of non-elderly, HUD-assisted adults aged 18-62. Using the Kessler-6 scale, preliminary results suggest that a high number of HUD- assisted adults experience serious psychological distress. This research project seeks to examine the degree to which HUD-assisted adults with serious psychological distress experience adverse health outcomes when compared to adults without serious psychological distress. If you have any questions, contact Veronica.E.Helms@hud.gov.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30684168/