Cityscape: Volume 23 Number 1 | Regulatory Reform and Affordable Housing

The goal of Cityscape is to bring high-quality original research on housing and community development issues to scholars, government officials, and practitioners. Cityscape is open to all relevant disciplines, including architecture, consumer research, demography, economics, engineering, ethnography, finance, geography, law, planning, political science, public policy, regional science, sociology, statistics, and urban studies.

Cityscape is published three times a year by the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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Regulatory Reform and Affordable Housing

Volume 23 Number 1

Mark D. Shroder

Michelle P. Matuga

Participant Engagement Strategies in a Housing First Randomized Trial

Anh-Dao Tran
White Center Community Development Association

Molly Brown
Camilla Cummings
DePaul University Department of Psychology

Conducting longitudinal Housing First research requires effective recruitment and engagement strategies to enroll individuals with prolonged homelessness histories who also have physical health and mental health vulnerabilities. In this article, we share our experiences working with participants in an attempt to conduct a randomized trial of single-site and scattered-site Housing First units in Seattle, Washington. We highlight considerations for the informed consent process, fostering participant agency, outreach strategies, issues with administration of measures, setting of boundaries, and ensuring participant safety. Our successes with participant engagement underscore the importance of a trauma-informed research philosophy, promoting a sense of choice for participants over the research process, and a perception of trustworthiness of the research team.