FROM DEPENDENCY TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY - AN APPRAISAL OF THE GATEWAY TRANSITIONAL FAMILIES PROGRAM

This article presents a longitudinal evaluation of the Gateway Transit ional Families Program, an innovative self-sufficiency program designe d to help public housing residents leave public housing for their own homes. The evaluation followed participants and a comparison group ove r six years to isolate program impacts on employment and receipt of Ai d to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), food stamps, and housing assistance. Many participants dropped out of the program. Difficulty in juggling educational and child-rearing responsibilities, noncomplia nce with program or public housing regulations, low wages while in the program, impatience with the length of the program, and staff shortag es and turnover contributed to the dropout rate. Those who finished th e program experienced modest increases in income, decreases in receipt of AFDC and food stamps, and reduced reliance on housing assistance r elative to comparison group members. Furthermore, graduates were more likely than comparison group members to have bought a home.