Emergency Department VisitsProject HIRENCT07470372
Experimental Trial of an Employment-Based Housing Program for Adults at Risk of Homelessness
A study testing Employment-Based Housing, Vocational Services and Resources in people with Emergency Department Visits and Housing Stability, run by The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
Employment-Based Housing (EBH) is a novel model that helps unstably housed individuals obtain housing and on-site employment where they are housed. The long-term goal of this project is to examine how housing and vocational services can be integrated into hospital emergency departments (EDs) as a multi-sectoral… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Emergency Department Visits, Housing Stability, Employment
- What is being tested?
- Employment-Based Housing, Vocational Services and Resources
- Could I receive a placebo?
- Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
- How many people
- 750 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 9 May 2026to 30 Jun 2030
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- English and Spanish-speaking individuals
- Aged 18+
- Recently discharged from a Harris Health System emergency departments
- Screen positive for risk of homelessness and employment need per the Centers Accountable Health Communities Health-Related Social Needs Screening Tool.
Who cannot join
- Participants with a conservator
- Unwillingness to participate a background and drug test
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
About this study
Employment-Based Housing (EBH) is a novel model that helps unstably housed individuals obtain housing and on-site employment where they are housed. The long-term goal of this project is to examine how housing and vocational services can be integrated into hospital emergency departments (EDs) as a multi-sectoral intervention. The investigators central hypothesis is that EBH provides housing, employment, and health insurance which will reduce acute care use and ameliorate non-medical determinants of health more than standard care models. The rationale is that EBH addresses multiple upstream factors that can prevent recurring use of acute care, and the combination of housing with employment services will have positive synergistic effects. This project has three specific aims: 1) Conduct a three-arm randomized clinical trial comparing EBH to passive (resource list) and active control interventions (basic vocational services) on acute care use as the primary outcome and secondary outcomes related to housing, employment, and health-related quality of life; 2) Understand the experiences of subgroups of participants receiving EBH; and 3) Identify barriers and facilitators to adoption of EBH in public healthcare systems in other cities nationally. To achieve these aims, an EBH program will be integrated into the ED of the largest safety net hospital system in Houston, Texas- the 4th largest city in the United States. The project will include a three-arm randomized trial enrolling 750 participants (250 participants per arm). The three-arm trial allows for the investigation of the unique contribution of housing over other non-medical determinants of health (employment and insurance). Participants will be randomized to one of the three arms and followed for 12 months.
Read the detailed description
Research Design/Study Arms. Patients discharged from the emergency department of the largest safety net hospitals in Houston, TX (N=750) will be enrolled in a three-arm pragmatic single-blind randomized controlled trial. Clients will be randomly assigned on a 1:1 ratio to one of the three arms: 1) Employment-Based Housing (EBH) facilitated by Entryway Houston; 2) Passive control intervention (PC) which will involve the provision of a list of available community resources; and 3) Active control intervention (AC) which will involve the provision of basic vocational services. The AC intervention will be modeled somewhat after existing community workforce development programs so there is ecological validity and having this additional treatment arm will strengthen the rigor of the trial. Ensuring that both EBH and AC consistently share key characteristics will allow them to directly compare the EBH model to AC.
Study materials will be available in English and Spanish. Individuals will be screened to determine whether they are at risk of homelessness and have an employment need, are 18+ years old, and report a willingness to pass an employer-mandated drug screening and criminal background checks if required by their employer.
- Conditions
- Emergency Department Visits, Housing Stability, Employment, Sleep Quality, Health-Related Quality-of-Life
- Being tested
- Employment-Based Housing, Vocational Services, Resources
- Keywords
- Emergency Department Usage, Housing, Employment, Employment-Based Housing, Quality of Life
- Medical subject headings
- Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Employment-Based HousingOther
Employment-based housing (EBH) is an innovative program that delivers housing and employment needs simultaneously. EBH will be delivered by an organization called Entryway which will provide training and employment opportunities in the apartment/multifamily housing industry. Since hires are required to live on-site, employees are provided with housing at the properties where they work at no or very low cost. There are a variety of entry-level positions in the industry (e.g., leasing agent, maintenance/apt technician, maintenance/apt supervisor) which pay well above Texas minimum wage and have opportunities for career advancement. Participants will receive job coaching, resume assistance, and extended training. Once trained, they are provided interview assistance (e.g., transportation) and, upon employment, continue to support through ongoing training and mentorship.
Vocational ServicesOther
Active control intervention (AC) which will involve the provision of basic vocational services. Our in-house vocational specialists will offer basic hands-on vocational assistance and take advantage of various existing job support resources that already exist through the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and other federal and state agencies. This could include job search support, resume review, application support, job prep, and interview training.
ResourcesOther
Passive control intervention (PC) which will involve the provision of a list of available community resources. Participants randomized to PC will receive a referral to resources via text, and can self-navigate to whichever resource seems best to them.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Employment-Based Housing | Experimental | Experimental intervention Receives: Other: Employment-Based Housing |
| Vocational Services | Active comparator | Active control intervention Receives: Other: Vocational Services |
| Resources | Placebo comparator | Passive control intervention Receives: Other: Resources |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Emergency Department (ED) Visits
The number of ED visits during the study period via administrative data and self-report
Measured: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment
Secondary outcomes (4)
Employment
The employment status of the participant will be assessed via an assessment of job acquisition during the follow-up period.
Measured: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment
Housing stability
Housing assessment used in the Collaborative Initiative to End Chronic Homelessness, assessment of housing situation in previous 30 days, and assessment of housing situation the previous night.
Measured: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment
Health-Related Quality of Life
Short From Health Survey-8 (SF-8) Health survey, a widely used tool which generates mental health and physical component scores with higher scores indicating more positive health.
Measured: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment
Sleep Quality
Validated with the Mini Sleep Questionnaire, a widely used scale to assess sleep quality and daytime sleepiness with higher scores indicating reduced sleep quality.
Measured: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted13 Mar 2026
- Study start9 May 2026
- Primary completion30 Jun 2030 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Jun 2030 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Emergency Department VisitsStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by The University of Texas Health Science Center, HoustonThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Investigator
- Enrolment
- 750 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Vanessa Schick, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07470372
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- HSC-SPH-25-0887
- Other IDs
- 1R01NR021997-01
- Acronym
- Project HIRE
- Status last verified
- May 2026
- First submitted
- 3 Mar 2026
- Last updated
- 18 May 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: After the end of the performance period, study data will be uploaded to the OpenICPSR data repository. OpenICPSR is a self-publishing repository for social, behavioral, and health sciences research data. De-identified data from our randomized controlled trial will be made available through this repository for others.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 18 May 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Experimental Trial of an Employment-Based Housing Program for Adults at Risk of Homelessness
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07470372
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- Project HIRE / HSC-SPH-25-0887
- Conditions
- Emergency Department Visits, Housing Stability, Employment, Sleep Quality, Health-Related Quality-of-Life
- Keywords
- Emergency Department Usage, Housing, Employment, Employment-Based Housing, Quality of Life
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Enrolling by invitation
- Enrolment
- 750 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- The University of Texas Health Science Center, HoustonUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
- Study start
- 9 May 2026 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 30 Jun 2030 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 30 Jun 2030 (estimated)
- First posted
- 13 Mar 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Employment-Based Housing (EBH) is a novel model that helps unstably housed individuals obtain housing and on-site employment where they are housed. The long-term goal of this project is to examine how housing and vocational services can be integrated into hospital emergency departments (EDs) as a multi-sectoral intervention. The investigators central hypothesis is that EBH provides housing, employment, and health insurance which will reduce acute care use and ameliorate non-medical determinants of health more than standard care models. The rationale is that EBH addresses multiple upstream factors that can prevent recurring use of acute care, and the combination of housing with employment services will have positive synergistic effects. This project has three specific aims: 1) Conduct a three-arm randomized clinical trial comparing EBH to passive (resource list) and active control interventions (basic vocational services) on acute care use as the primary outcome and secondary outcomes related to housing, employment, and health-related quality of life; 2) Understand the experiences of subgroups of participants receiving EBH; and 3) Identify barriers and facilitators to adoption of EBH in public healthcare systems in other cities nationally. To achieve these aims, an EBH program will be integrated into the ED of the largest safety net hospital system in Houston, Texas- the 4th largest city in the United States. The project will include a three-arm randomized trial enrolling 750 participants (250 participants per arm). The three-arm trial allows for the investigation of the unique contribution of housing over other non-medical determinants of health (employment and insurance). Participants will be randomized to one of the three arms and followed for 12 months.
Detailed description
Research Design/Study Arms. Patients discharged from the emergency department of the largest safety net hospitals in Houston, TX (N=750) will be enrolled in a three-arm pragmatic single-blind randomized controlled trial. Clients will be randomly assigned on a 1:1 ratio to one of the three arms: 1) Employment-Based Housing (EBH) facilitated by Entryway Houston; 2) Passive control intervention (PC) which will involve the provision of a list of available community resources; and 3) Active control intervention (AC) which will involve the provision of basic vocational services. The AC intervention will be modeled somewhat after existing community workforce development programs so there is ecological validity and having this additional treatment arm will strengthen the rigor of the trial. Ensuring that both EBH and AC consistently share key characteristics will allow them to directly compare the EBH model to AC.
Study materials will be available in English and Spanish. Individuals will be screened to determine whether they are at risk of homelessness and have an employment need, are 18+ years old, and report a willingness to pass an employer-mandated drug screening and criminal background checks if required by their employer.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (investigator)
- Number of arms
- 3
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Employment-Based Housing | Experimental | Other: Employment-Based HousingExperimental intervention |
| Vocational Services | Active comparator | Other: Vocational ServicesActive control intervention |
| Resources | Placebo comparator | Other: ResourcesPassive control intervention |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- English and Spanish-speaking individuals
- Aged 18+
- Recently discharged from a Harris Health System emergency departments
- Screen positive for risk of homelessness and employment need per the Centers Accountable Health Communities Health-Related Social Needs Screening Tool.
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Participants with a conservator
- Unwillingness to participate a background and drug test
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Employment-Based HousingEmployment-based housing (EBH) is an innovative program that delivers housing and employment needs simultaneously. EBH will be delivered by an organization called Entryway which will provide training and employment opportunities in the apartment/multifamily housing industry. Since hires are required to live on-site, employees are provided with housing at the properties where they work at no or very low cost. There are a variety of entry-level positions in the industry (e.g., leasing agent, maintenance/apt technician, maintenance/apt supervisor) which pay well above Texas minimum wage and have opportunities for career advancement. Participants will receive job coaching, resume assistance, and extended training. Once trained, they are provided interview assistance (e.g., transportation) and, upon employment, continue to support through ongoing training and mentorship. | Other | Employment-Based Housing |
| Vocational ServicesActive control intervention (AC) which will involve the provision of basic vocational services. Our in-house vocational specialists will offer basic hands-on vocational assistance and take advantage of various existing job support resources that already exist through the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and other federal and state agencies. This could include job search support, resume review, application support, job prep, and interview training. | Other | Vocational Services |
| ResourcesPassive control intervention (PC) which will involve the provision of a list of available community resources. Participants randomized to PC will receive a referral to resources via text, and can self-navigate to whichever resource seems best to them. | Other | Resources |
Primary outcome
Emergency Department (ED) Visits
Time frame: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment
The number of ED visits during the study period via administrative data and self-report
4 secondary outcomes
Employment
Time frame: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment
Housing stability
Time frame: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment
Health-Related Quality of Life
Time frame: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment
Sleep Quality
Time frame: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 18 May 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. After the end of the performance period, study data will be uploaded to the OpenICPSR data repository. OpenICPSR is a self-publishing repository for social, behavioral, and health sciences research data. De-identified data from our randomized controlled trial will be made available through this repository for others.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Employment-Based Housing, Vocational Services and Resources in people with Emergency Department Visits and Housing Stability, run by The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: enrolling by invitation, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 May 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Emergency Department (ED) Visits (time frame: From enrollment to 12 months after enrollment). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 May 2026.