Justice-involved individuals often encounter significant barriers to stable housing and employment. Breaking Barriers is a program that provides rental assistance, employment support, and other supportive services. In this report, the authors examine whether the program achieves its goals.

Breaking Barriers Rapid Rehousing Program for Justice-Involved Individuals in Los Angeles County

Local Evaluation Report

Maya Buenaventura, Alex Sizemore, Austin Smidt, Sarah B. Hunter

ResearchPublished Apr 30, 2026

Justice-involved individuals face significant barriers to stable housing and employment. In Los Angeles County, the challenges faced by people reentering after incarceration are further compounded by exceptionally high housing costs, a shortage of affordable rental options, and systemic obstacles to housing and employment. Without targeted support, many individuals experience homelessness, unemployment, and increased risk of recidivism. The Breaking Barriers program addresses these issues by providing short-term rental assistance, employment support, and other supportive services to help people secure and maintain housing. In this report, the authors examine whether the program improves housing stability, employment, and income for participants and identify factors associated with successful outcomes.

Key Findings

The program had several strengths

  • Breaking Barriers benefited from highly engaged, skilled staff; strong collaboration between the two nonprofits operating the program; individualized case management; and flexible financial supports.
  • Participants valued frequent, responsive communication and tailored assistance.
  • The program addressed several of the challenges identified in the pilot evaluation through quality improvement processes.

Program challenges were primarily external

  • Persistent barriers included high housing costs, limited availability of affordable units, wage stagnation, and obstacles to employment.
  • The program had limited options for permanent supportive housing and long-term subsidies for participants with complex needs.
  • Staff and partners experienced an adjustment period as they adapted to a new centralized referral process.

Outcomes were mixed

  • The program met its goal of maintaining a housing retention rate above 80 percent at month 12.
  • The program nearly met its goal of at least 80 percent of participants earning above minimum wage at or before program exit.

Recommendations

  • The program and its county partners should continue to refine referral and enrollment processes to ensure timely access to services for all participant groups.
  • The program should expand access to permanent supportive housing for participants with higher needs, in partnership with local housing agencies as needed.
  • The program should increase targeted supports for high-risk subgroups, including those under Assembly Bill 109 supervision, older adults, and women who are unemployed at entry.
  • The program should enhance data collection and follow-up to reduce missing outcome data and strengthen future evaluations.
  • The program, in collaboration with funders and evaluators, should pursue longer-term and more-rigorous evaluations to assess the durability of program impacts and identify best practices.
  • The program should monitor and address rent-to-income ratios to support long-term affordability for participants.
  • Because program-specific interventions might not fully offset high housing costs, policymakers and program funders could consider additional efforts to address the affordability gap, such as supporting policies that improve living wages and facilitate the development of affordable housing in the region.

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Buenaventura, Maya, Alex Sizemore, Austin Smidt, and Sarah B. Hunter, Breaking Barriers Rapid Rehousing Program for Justice-Involved Individuals in Los Angeles County: Local Evaluation Report. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4755-1.html.
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This research was sponsored by the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) and the Los Angeles County Justice, Care and Opportunities Department (JCOD) and conducted by the Infrastructure and Justice Program of RAND Education, Employment, and Infrastructure.

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