View Research by Author - Joe Parilla

Joe Parilla is a research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities policy center at the Urban Institute. Since arriving at the Urban Institute, he has analyzed issues such as sustainable and inclusive communities, the foreclosure crisis, and the effect of housing policies and programs on residents, communities, and cities. He has conducted research on various topics related to housing and metropolitan areas including the relationship between environmental sustainability and access to opportunity, the effect of poverty deconcentration on crime, and the impact of intensive case management services on vulnerable public housing families.

Prior to joining the Urban Institute, Mr. Parilla was a research analyst at Optimal Solutions Group and held internships at the St. Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development and the Greater Washington Urban League. In 2008, he graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Geography.

JParilla@urban.org

Publications

The Supporting Vulnerable Public Housing Families policy briefs present findings from the evaluation of the Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration, an innovative effort to test the feasibility of using public and assisted housing as a platform for providing services to vulnerable families. The Demonstration involved a unique partnership of city agencies, researchers, social service providers, and private foundations, including the Urban Institute, the Chicago Housing Authority, Heartland Human Care Services, and Housing Choice Partners. The briefs in this series describe service implementation and costs, along with participant outcomes across four domains: employment, health, housing and relocation, and children and youth.

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration provided vulnerable public housing residents from two Chicago Housing Authority developments with intensive case management services, transitional jobs, financial literacy training, and relocation counseling. The Demonstration was remarkably successful in implementing a wraparound service model. The lead service provider kept residents highly engaged even as they relocated with vouchers or to mixed-income housing. Participants perceived improvements in service quality and delivery, and providers felt more effective and engaged. The additional costs for the intensive services were modest, suggesting that it would be feasible to take a carefully targeted intensive service model to scale.

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration was an innovative effort to test the feasibility of providing wraparound supportive services, including work supports, for vulnerable public housing families. This brief explores the employment experiences of Demonstration participants. Surprisingly, despite an extremely difficult labor market, employment increased. Further, the intensive Transitional Jobs program appears to have contributed to these employment gains. Yet, despite increases in employment, the economic situation for most Chicago Housing Authority families remains tenuous. For those who remained unemployed, the Demonstration's services failed to address a multitude of personal and structural barriers to work.

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration was an innovative effort to improve the circumstances and life chances of CHA’s most vulnerable families, with the goal of ensuring stable housing in better conditions. This brief explores relocation outcomes for Demonstration participants, including their experiences with relocation services. Generally, participants live in much better housing in neighborhoods where they feel safer. However, most still live in public housing, and their new neighborhoods are still poor, racially segregated, and crime ridden. To better serve vulnerable families, relocation counseling needs to be intensive, long term, and integrated with other services.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has decided to include two key goals in all of its programs: encouraging sustainable communities and enhancing access to opportunity for lower-income people and people of color. This paper examines the relationship between these two goals through a literature review and an original empirical analysis of how these goals interact at the neighborhood and metropolitan area levels. We also offer policy recommendations for HUD.

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