Policy Research

Family Unification Program: Housing Services for Homeless Child Welfare–Involved Families

Patrick J. Fowler , Dina Chavira

Summary

This article assesses the effectiveness of The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Family Unification Program (FUP) in increasing family stability. FUP provides housing assistance to families who are at risk of parent-child separation. Using data from a randomized controlled set of families receiving FUP assistance, the preliminary findings of this study finds that families who were referred to the program did experience a lower risk for homelessness and out-of-home placement as compared to families who did not.

Read Now

Policy Implications

Policymakers should better fund the FUP. The preliminary findings of this study as well as other studies demonstrate that this assistant helps families become more stable over time. This helps to keep children out of foster care and increase overall child welfare.