Evaluation finds Returning Home St. Paul placed 12 people but struggled with recruitment and rent stability

Summary

A city-commissioned evaluation presented to the St. Paul Public Safety and Community Wellness Committee found the Returning Home St. Paul pilot housed 12 participants, showed promising tenant stability for some, and identified recruitment, geographic limits and lack of ongoing rent assistance as major barriers to long-term success.

At a St. Paul City Public Safety and Community Wellness Committee meeting, Kathleen “Katie” (research director, Minnesota Justice Research Center) presented an evaluation of Returning Home St. Paul, a small pilot reentry housing program that ran from December 2020 through early 2022 and aimed to place people returning from incarceration into market-rate housing with supportive services.

The Minnesota Justice Research Center evaluation found the program placed 12 participants in housing (10 in St. Paul and two in Minneapolis) against an original target of 20 participants. Katie said “the overarching story of this returning home St. Paul…was of hope and inspiration” for the people who were housed, while also noting multiple program limitations.

The nut graf: the evaluation showed that receiving stable housing can be transformative but that the pilot’s limited scale, geographic restriction to St. Paul, difficulty recruiting participants and the lack of ongoing rental assistance left many participants financially vulnerable and limited the program’s ability to reduce long-term homelessness or recidivism at scale.

Most important findings

- Enrollment and retention: The pilot aimed for 20 participants…

Evaluation finds Returning Home St. Paul placed 12 people but struggled with recruitment and rent stability

Summary

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