PHLHousing+
PHLHousing+ gives low-income Philadelphia renter families with children direct, unconditional monthly cash payments — loaded onto a prepaid debit card — to close the gap between what a household can afford (30% of income) and its actual rent. It is administered by the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC) in partnership with the Philadelphia Housing Authority and the University of Pennsylvania's Housing Initiative at Penn, which is evaluating the program as a randomized controlled trial against traditional Housing Choice Vouchers. Funding is a roughly even mix of public dollars (Neighborhood Preservation Initiative bond proceeds, Housing Trust Fund, PA Housing Finance Agency) and philanthropy (William Penn Foundation, Spring Point Partners, Stoneleigh Foundation, Samuel S. Fels Fund). Two-year evaluation results show the cash assistance substantially reduced evictions, forced moves, and homelessness compared to households receiving no assistance.
Guaranteed Income, Direct-to-Tenant Cash Rental Assistance, Randomized Controlled Trial, Housing Choice Voucher Alternative, Families with Children, Prepaid Debit Card (MoCaFi), Philadelphia Housing Authority Partnership
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC)
- City
- Philadelphia
- State / Province
- Pennsylvania
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Phone
- +1 215-448-3000
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 301
- Funding type
- Government, Philanthropic, Research Pilot
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 26,700 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 890 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 30 months
- Distribution Type
- Prepaid debit card
- Benefit details
Monthly payment amounts are individually calculated to close the gap between what a household can afford for housing (generally 30% of household income) and its actual housing costs, so amounts differ across households — reported ranges span roughly $45–$2,433/month, with an average around $880–$890/month. Funds are loaded onto a reloadable MoCaFi (Mobility Capital Finance, Inc.) prepaid Mastercard debit card on the 20th of each month. Payments are unconditional and unrestricted, meaning recipients can spend them however they choose. Each cash household receives payments for 2.5 years (30 months). 100% of households offered the cash benefit were able to use it, compared with 75% of households offered a traditional voucher.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Participation is limited to renter households that were on the Philadelphia Housing Authority's (PHA) Housing Choice Voucher or public housing waitlists; eligible households must have earned no more than 50% of Area Median Income at the time of enrollment and had at least one child age 15 or under in the household. Households could not already hold a housing voucher or live in public housing. Participants were randomly selected from the waitlists and invited to enroll — there was no open public application.
Family
- Family Status
- Parent
- Number of dependents (minimum)
- 1
Housing
- Housing status
- Renter
Financial
- Income limit (annual household)
- $59,700
- Income as % of Area Median Income
- 50 %
- Currently receiving government benefits
- Disqualifying
Geography
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- Philadelphia
- Counties covered
- Philadelphia County
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Required
- Research / participation requirements
The Housing Initiative at Penn (HIP) at the University of Pennsylvania, together with the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Guaranteed Income Research and Penn's Risk and Resilience Lab, serves as the research/evaluation partner, conducting surveys and interviews with participants throughout the RCT. Research funding included the William Penn Foundation, Spring Point Partners LLC, the Samuel S. Fels Fund, the Russell Sage Foundation, the National Institute of Nursing Research (NIH), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Two-year findings (published Sept. 2025) show cash assistance led to a 63–75% reduction in forced moves/evictions and roughly half the rate of homelessness (3.0 vs. 6.9 per 100 households) relative to control households, plus a 22% reduction in serious housing-quality concerns; 100% of cash recipients used their benefit vs. 75% of voucher recipients who could lease a unit. Findings were published via a peer-reviewed article in HUD's Cityscape journal (Vol. 26, No. 2, 2024), research briefs, and working papers available at housinginitiative.org.
Application Process
- How to apply
Invitation-only; there is no general public application. Eligible households were identified from the Philadelphia Housing Authority's (PHA) Housing Choice Voucher and public housing waitlists and were randomly selected and asked whether they wanted to participate in PHLHousing+.
- Selection process
Households were randomly assigned, as part of a randomized controlled trial (RCT), into one of three study groups: 301 'cash households' who receive the PHLHousing+ monthly cash payments, 170 'voucher households' who were offered a traditional Housing Choice Voucher, and 725 'control households' who received no rental subsidy and remained on the PHA waitlist.
