Assessing Disparities in Houston Housing Prioritization Tool
Abstract
Primary goal of this study is to investigate any disparities in four key demographics, age, sex, race, and ethnicity when prioritizing housing for homeless individuals in Harris County. The study is a secondary analysis of a retrospective cohort. The individuals participated in the assessment for housing and service eligibilities using the housing prioritization tool provided through The Way Home program. Disparities were investigated for 1) each individual item in the prioritization tool, 2) individuals being included in the referral stage of the assessment, 3) individuals being placed into housing, and 4) the final score. The results found that there were significant disparities between age and gender. White males and white non-Hispanics scored higher on the assessment, which resulted in more being placed in permanent supportive housing vs rapid re-housing. While race and ethnicity themselves were non-significant with housing placements, their interactions with other demographics were significant. A negative binomial model tested suggested that the disparities between race and ethnicity were mediated by the items within the assessment. These results can be used to tune the items in the prioritization tool to lessen disparities between the race, gender, and ethnicity. While this study has benefits in identifying disparities in housing homeless individuals through the prioritization tool, there are limitations. The administration of the assessment itself poses potential biases, specifically through self-reporting and observer’s bias. To lessen or eliminate disparities, one suggestion is to rework or substitute questions in the assessment that lead to the most variabilities between demographics.
Subject Area
Biostatistics|Public health
Recommended Citation
Harrison, Samantha, "Assessing Disparities in Houston Housing Prioritization Tool" (2022). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI29396246.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI29396246