The first in a series, this historical report offers interim results comparing the Housing Voucher and Section 8 Existing Housing Certificate programs as part of the Freestanding Housing Voucher Demonstration. During this two-year demonstration, more than 12,000 enrollees in 19 Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) were randomly assigned to either the Housing Voucher or Certificate Programs, and their outcomes compared. The 19 demonstration sites consisted of 17 large urban PHAs, plus two statewide PHAs. In both programs, assisted tenants would take their subsidy to private units within their PHA’s service area; the Certificate and Voucher programs differed based on whether a rent cap was imposed, whether the tenant paid the difference between Fair Market Rent and the actual rent of the chosen unit, and several other factors.

This report is part of the collection of scanned historical documents available to the public.