An evaluation by the RAND Corporation finds Los Angeles County\u2019s Breaking Barriers program is helping justice-involved people secure and maintain housing while building long-term stability, officials announced Friday.<\/p>\n
The program, operated by the county\u2019s Justice, Care and Opportunities Department (JCOD), provides rental subsidies, case management and employment services to people exiting the justice system who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.<\/p>\n
According to the evaluation, 83% of participants receiving housing subsidies remained housed after one year, exceeding the program\u2019s retention goal, while 56% of 460 participants studied obtained subsidies and secured housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe RAND evaluation confirms what we see every day \u2014 when people have stable housing, consistent coordinated support, structure, and access to living-wage employment, they generally commit to the provided opportunities and rebuild their lives,\u201d JCOD Director Songhai Armstead said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Among participants who exited the program after receiving subsidies, 61% achieved positive outcomes such as taking over their own rent, transitioning to Section 8 housing or moving into other permanent housing, while 12% experienced negative outcomes including incarceration or a return to homelessness.<\/p>\n
Officials said Breaking Barriers is a rapid rehousing and supportive services initiative designed to assist justice-involved individuals and families who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness, integrating rental subsidies, case management, housing navigation, employment services and flexible financial assistance to support long-term independence.<\/p>\n
\u201cBreaking Barriers was established to address the significant barriers people exiting justice settings face in accessing housing and employment,\u201d Brilliant Corners CEO William Pickel said. \u201cThe findings from this evaluation \u2014 positive housing outcomes and stronger outcomes linked to higher service interactions \u2014 confirm why this program is such a vital resource to justice-impacted individuals, their families, and our community as a whole, and that housing is the key to breaking the cycle between incarceration and homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Researchers also found that only 8% of all program exits were due to reincarceration, and higher engagement with program staff was linked to better housing outcomes and longer retention.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe RAND evaluation highlights what makes Breaking Barriers effective \u2014 housing and employment working together,\u201d said Mark Loranger, president and CEO of Chrysalis. \u201cStable housing creates the foundation, but employment is what allows people to sustain that stability over time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Breaking Barriers met or exceeded most benchmarks set by the California Board of State and Community Corrections, including goals for referrals, case management, employment placements and housing assistance, according to the research.<\/p>\n
The evaluation covered March 2023 through December 2025 and drew on administrative data and interviews with participants and staff, though researchers said the findings show associations and do not establish cause and effect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An evaluation by the RAND Corporation finds Los Angeles County\u2019s Breaking Barriers program is helping justice-involved people secure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,2356,451,2053,3031,13489,3,452,453],"class_list":["post-618362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-california","tag-headlines","tag-housing","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}