The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Section 811 Project Rental Assistance (PRA) Program provides rental housing assistance to non-elderly people with disabilities. In the second phase of Abt’s evaluation of the program, we compared its short-term outcomes to those for residents in other HUD rental assistance programs and for a group of similar people who receive Medicaid but are not assisted by HUD. We found:

• The PRA program’s residents differed from comparison programs in their demographic characteristics, the neighborhoods where they lived and in the perception of quality of properties that were provided.   
• The intended beneficiaries are being reached, although gaps in services are noted.
• Rental subsidy costs are similar or lower than for other HUD programs but program administrative costs are higher.
• PRA residents have fewer long-term care admissions—and more in home care services—than similar Medicare recipients not assisted by HUD, suggesting lower overall healthcare costs if these trends continue.