The impact of residential change and housing stability on recidivism: pilot results from the Maryland Opportunities through Vouchers Experiment (MOVE)
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: This article provides a description and preliminary assessment of the Maryland Opportunities through Vouchers Experiment (MOVE), a randomized housing mobility program for former prisoners designed to test whether residential relocation far away from former neighborhoods, incentivized through the provision of a housing subsidy, can yield reductions in recidivism. METHODS: The MOVE program was implemented as a randomized controlled trial. Participants were recruited from four different Maryland prisons and randomly assigned to experimental groups. In the first iteration of the experiment, treatment group participants received 6 months of free housing away from their home jurisdiction and control group participants received free housing back in their home jurisdiction. In the second iteration of the experiment, the treatment group remained the same and the control condition was redesigned to represent the status quo and did not receive free housing. Analyses were conducted of one-year rearrest rates. RESULTS: With respect to reductions in recidivism, pilot results suggest that there is some benefit to moving and a benefit to receiving free housing. Rearrest was lower among the treatment group of movers than the non-movers, and was also lower for non-movers who received free housing versus non-movers who did not receive housing. CONCLUSIONS: To the extent that pilot results can be validated and replicated in a full-scale implementation of the MOVE program, policies that provide greater access to housing assistance for formerly incarcerated individuals may yield substantial public safety benefits, particularly housing opportunities located far away from former neighborhoods.
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A pilot study providing housing vouchers to 30 individuals upon release was shown to be feasible and promising; in the year following release, there were only 2 arrests among those randomized to a housing voucher and 9 among those who did not.
“The intervention was shown to be feasible and promising; in the year following release, there were only 2 arrests among those who were randomized to a housing voucher, and 9 among those who did not.”
From Community investment interventions as a means for decarceration: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [42]
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe MOVE program pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of providing housing on release from prison; despite encouraging results, a larger intervention trial has not materialized due to lack of funding.
“This is exemplified by the MOVE program pilot study, which demonstrated the feasibility of providing housing on release from prison. Despite encouraging results, a larger intervention trial has not materialized due to lack of funding.42”
From Community investment interventions as a means for decarceration: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [42]
The Discussion says the pilot showed that implementation challenges were not insurmountable and reports preliminary, encouraging results from a small sample. Pilot results says the authors were seeking funding for full-scale implementation. The paper does not establish that a larger trial subsequently failed to materialize because of a lack of funding. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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- Authors
- Kirk, D. S., Barnes, G. C., Hyatt, J. M., & Kearley, B. W.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Drexel University (US)
- University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kirk, David S.
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Criminology
- Published
- 2017-12-15
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 213-226
- ISSN
- 1572-8315 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3750
- PMC
- PMC5993842
- OpenAlex
- W2772691532
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 4.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Criminology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R03HD081515)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
- Keywords
- recidivism, residential mobility, formerly incarcerated individuals, housing vouchers, housing subsidies, rearrest rates, prisoner release, public safety, MOVE! program
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