The City of Madison and Dane County finished a two-year pilot program aimed at serving “doubled-up” households, according to WKOW News.

The Doubled Up Pilot program worked with “doubled-up” households, which are homes made up off differing families or individuals for financial reasons, according to WayForward Resources. This program ran from began November 2023 and ran for two years, according to the Dane County Department of Human Services.

Doubled Up Pilot supported 60 families, providing measures to fund rent, utilities, fees, additional aid in job searches and benefit access, according to DCDHS. Families with children were most likely to participate in this program, with a small percentage of adult-only households included as well, according to housing program specialist Johneisha Prescott.

“The goal of the program was to reach high need households, those at risk of entering the shelter system or experiencing adverse outcomes while doubled up/motel staying,”  Prescott said in an email statement.

Many of the families enrolled were contacted by local agencies, like the Dane County Homeless Services Consortium and the HSC’s Doubled Up Committee, along with word of mouth, which promoted this program to households in need, according to WayForward Resources.

Through this program, core issues like homelessness and housing instability were addressed, especially due to the overwhelming presence in Dane County, according to Prescott’s email statement.

“Despite the efforts of our collaborative system, the increase in rental costs, along with higher prices for goods and services is pricing many people out of housing,” Prescott said in the email statement.

Due to drastic funding cuts and shifting priorities, many households were no longer supported for housing on a federal level, according to DCDHS. But, through this pilot program and similar ones like WayForward’s Connection program, these households were able to be supported at a local level, according to WayForward Resources.

The Connections program received county funding during the two-year pilot program and now continues to operate through federal, grant and individual level funding, according to WayForward Resources. WayForward housing stability Director Taylor Rozman in an email statement said the program has helped support dozens of families.

“Our Connections program has been very successful,” Rozman said in an email statement. “To date, 61 families have graduated. 26 of the 27 families who have completed the program a year or more ago are still stably housed.”