New Jersey's Transitional Housing Demonstration Program: The relationship of service delivery structure and process to the attainment of more permanent forms of housing

In this article we examine the impact of New Jersey's Transitional Housing Demonstration Program (THDP) on families receiving public assistance in need of some form of permanent housing. We test the demonstration's overall program logic that posits a causal linkage between organizational structure, participation in life skills activities, successful graduation from the program, and positive housing outcomes. Using a sample of 777 AFDC recipients who participated in transitional housing for some spell over a 3.5 year period and a subsample survey of 149 participants, we find some evidence that THDP does help participant's secure more permanent forms of housing. We find that demographic characteristics of the participants and features of the programs themselves are linked with more successful outcomes. Programs which require higher levels of activity participation and which limit residents' personal freedom produce graduates who are more likely to find permanent housing. Implications for best practices in construction of transitional housing programs are discussed.