The Tenant Rental Assistance Certification Systems (TRACS) dataset is an annual extract from Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) administrative system that manages financial controls over assisted housing programs. TRACS files contain information about a number of programs collectively referred to as privately-owned, subsidized housing. The TRACS file contain information all members of each household with a participant in a covered program. TRACS recipients generally include the low-income population, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.  TRACS files includes the following information for the head of household and all other members of the household: Full Name, SSN, date of birth, sex, race, address, date the information was collected, date members of household moved to address, length of time at this address, relation to the head of household, annual income, date of certification, type of certification, contract rent, gross rent, total tenant payment, program type and effective date. 

The Public and Indian Housing Information Center (PIC) dataset is an annual extract from HUD's administrative system that manages financial controls over Indian Housing, Housing Choice Voucher, and Public Housing programs.  Indian Housing ensures that safe, decent and affordable housing is available to Native American families and creates economic opportunities for Tribes and Indian housing residents.  Housing Choice Vouchers allow very low-income families to choose and lease or purchase safe, decent, and affordable privately-owned rental housing. Public housing provides decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. The PIC file contains information on all members of each household with a participant in a covered program.

HUD PIC and TRACS

The purpose of the Survey of Construction is to provide current national and regional statistics on starts, completions, and characteristics of new, privately-owned single-family and multifamily housing units and on sales of new single-family houses. The United States code, Title 13, authorizes this survey and provides for voluntary responses. The Department of Housing and Urban Development partially funds this survey.

Survey of Construction

Moving to Opportunity (MTO) is a unique random assignment research effort sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

This demonstration was designed to help very low-income families with children living in public housing or Section 8 project-based housing in extremely poor neighborhoods relocate to "opportunity neighborhoods" for greater self-sufficiency and improved individual and family well-being. The interim evaluation included the collection of data on a wide range of outcomes that could potentially be affected by the MTO intervention. These outcomes fit into 6 study domains: (1) mobility, housing, and neighborhood, (2) adult and child physical and mental health, (3) child educational achievement, (4) youth delinquency and risky behavior, (5) adult and youth employment and earnings, and (6) household income and public assistance receipt.

The MTO demonstration ran in five large cities -- Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York -- between September 1994 and August 1998.

A total of 4,608 families enrolled in the MTO demonstration and were randomly assigned. The demonstration combined Section 8 rental assistance with intensive housing search and counseling services to ease families' relocation to low-poverty communities and help them become self-sufficient.

The project review timeframes above do not apply to applications that request access to confidential data assets commingled with data that are either not owned, or are only co-owned, by the statistical agency(s) or unit(s) and require approval from third parties not subject to this policy (e.g., state and local government agencies).

HUD Moving to Opportunity

The restricted data also includes a census tract ID that allows researchers to link other neighborhood-level data. For a detailed description of the differences, please see "Comparison of Census Bureau Public and Restricted Data" in general metadata section.

The Family Options Study is a multi-site random assignment experiment designed to study the impact of various housing and services interventions for homeless families. HUD launched the Family Options Study in 2008 in response to Congressional direction and with the goal of learning more about the effects of different housing and services interventions for homeless families. 

Families were followed for three years following random assignment, with extensive surveys of families conducted at baseline and again approximately 20 and 37 months after random assignment. In addition to collecting data about the well-being of families and children at different points in time following random assignment, extensive cost data on each of the interventions studied was also collected, in order to calculate the fiscal costs of achieving the outcomes that were documented. While the primary outcome of interest is housing stability, and, in particular, preventing families from returning to homelessness, additional outcome domains of interest include family preservation, adult well-being, child well-being, and self-sufficiency.

The Family Options Study was an important research effort that yielded significant results. At both the 20-month and 37-month points of observation, significant positive impacts were observed in both the adults and the children of the families offered a voucher. It is unclear whether these positive impacts extend over a much longer follow-up period, which has particular relevance given the number of children in the sample, and thus HUD is interested in potentially pursuing a longer-term follow-up with study families. In advance of pursuing this effort, HUD funded a tracking effort to determine if the contact information for the study sample was still viable. 

A grant to Vanderbilt University by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) supported child data collection and analysis for this study.

The project review timeframes above do not apply to applications that request access to confidential data assets commingled with data that are either not owned, or are only co-owned, by the statistical agency(s) or unit(s) and require approval from third parties not subject to this policy (e.g., state and local government agencies).

HUD Family Options Study

The Public Use File Microdata (PUF) are available to all users for limited research and analysis. To minimize disclosure risk, the PUF have been stripped of all direct identifiers and indirect identifiers have been either removed or masked. A Restricted Use File (RAF) microdata version of the Family Options Study (FOS) data is available to qualified researchers in government, academic, non-profit, and not-for-profit organizations. The RAF includes greater geographic detail as well as details about household members. To use the RAF, researchers must propose to answer a relevant research question(s) that can be only be answered by restricted use FOS data.

The Tenant Rental Assistance Certification Systems (TRACS) dataset is an annual extract from Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) administrative system that manages financial controls over assisted housing programs. TRACS files contain information about a number of programs collectively referred to as privately-owned, subsidized housing. The TRACS file contain information all  members of each household with a participant in a covered program. TRACS recipients generally include the low-income population, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. 

The Public and Indian Housing Information Center (PIC) dataset is an annual extract from HUD's administrative system that manages financial controls over Indian Housing, Housing Choice Voucher, and Public Housing programs.  Indian Housing ensures that safe, decent and affordable housing is available to Native American families and creates economic opportunities for Tribes and Indian housing residents.  Housing Choice Vouchers allow very low-income families to choose and lease or purchase safe, decent, and affordable privately-owned rental housing. Public housing provides decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. The PIC file contains information on all members of each household with a participant in a covered program..

For years 1999-2014, these were delivered as two separate files, the PIC file and the TRACS file. Starting in 2015, they were delivered together, as a PICTRACS file. PICTRACS is not a study but tracking people by SSN and address over 18 months.

HUD PIC and TRACS Longitudinal

The IDB datamart contains the current status of every single family loan insured by FHA since the inception of the program. The IDB datamart is a living or operational datamart in the sense that its tables are updated as new loans are insured or existing loans undergo a change in their insurance information. However, no loan records are ever removed from the tables within the IDB datamart.

The purpose for transferring of IDB datamart data to Census is to merge with housing surveys, thereby allowing the identification of households in housing surveys who have FHA mortgage insurance. Not all of these records are pertinent to HUD and Census's planned data matching activities. Specifically, HUD and Census are interested in matching records in the IDB datamart to the American Housing Survey (AHS) and the American Community Survey (ACS) for years 2010 and later. As such, HUD is supplying an extract of the full IDB datamart where the extract includes only: 
records that are currently active (an active insurance policy), or; 
records that are not currently active (terminated, claim, or other), but were active at any point after January 1, 2010.

HUD Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Integrated Data Base (IDB)

The Administrative Data Research Facility (ADRF) is a secure cloud-based computing platform designed to promote collaboration, facilitate documentation, and provide information about data use to the agencies that own the data. The ADRF has provided secure access to over 100 confidential government datasets from 50 different agencies at all levels of government. More information on ADRF is available at https://coleridgeinitiative.org/adrf/.

Remote access to restricted-use data at the authorized licensed location via the the Administrative Data Research Facility (ADRF) by a connected, networked computer.  

Researchers may access restricted-use National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) data at Research Data Centers (RDCs) located in Hyattsville, MD, Atlanta, GA, Rockville, MD, and Washington DC (government employees only). The NCHS RDCs are open by appointment only during regular business hours. The NCHS RDC computers are not connected to the Internet, and they have standard statistical software. An RDC Analyst will review all materials brought into the RDC and will review any notes, code, or output the researcher may want to take out of the RDC. Electronic devices (e.g., cell phones and laptops) are not permitted in the RDC. Some NCHS projects are authorized to access NCHS data at Federal Statistical RDCs (FSRDC). Non-US Citizens: In general, non-US citizens are not granted access to NCHS RDCs and are encouraged to use Federal Statistical RDCs to access restricted-use NCHS data.

Access via physical data enclaves in Atlanta, GA; Hyattsville, MD; Rockville, MD; or Washington, DC (government employees only).

NCSES Secure Data Access Facility (SDAF) houses NCSES restricted-use data and provides secure remote access to researchers. After researchers have submitted a restricted-use data application, received approval from NCSES, and have been trained on how to use the SDAF, they can login using an approved computer and a private internet connection. Each researcher has access to their own, personal file space and to a suite of software that can be used to store, access, and analyze data. For more information on accessing NCSES restricted-use data, please visit https://ncses.nsf.gov/about/licensing. 

The NCSES Secure Data Access Facility is a virtual data enclave where approved researchers access NCSES restricted-use data.

USDA offers offsite remote access via a secure internet connection using the researcher’s own computer and web browser to approved datasets for data analysis within the Data Enclave. Each researcher has access to their own personal file space and to a suite of software that can be used to store, access, and analyze data.

Remote access through a virtual data enclave.

Access via a physical data enclave at the Social Security Administration in Washington, DC.

The ICPSR physical data enclave is located in the Perry Building on the campus of the University of Michigan.

Access via the physical data enclave at ICPSR in Ann Arbor, MI.

The ICPSR virtual data enclave allows users access to restricted data via their own computers using a virtual desktop. 

Remote access through ICPSR`s virtual data enclave.

Data can be used by the researcher(s) at their institutions via a method and following requirements set by the agency owning the data. These might include a non-networked computer, a secure office, or other provisions deemed necessary to ensure security.

Data can be used at the user`s institution following the license agreement.

Researchers share four secure workstations at BEA’s headquarters at the Suitland Federal Center in Suitland, MD. Workstation use is by appointment only. Due to pandemic-related restrictions that currently prevent access at the physical data enclave, BEA is temporarily providing access at the user`s domicile. A security clearance is required to access the BEA network. 

Access via a physical enclave at BEA`s headquarters in Suitland, MD.

BLS Onsite access is available in a researcher room at the BLS national office in Washington, DC.  Researchers with approved projects can reserve time during normal business hours to use BLS workstations connected to an internal server where all data and project files are stored.  More information is available at www.bls.gov/rda/onsite-at-bls.htm. 

Access via a designated researcher room at the BLS national office in Washington, DC.

BLS offers offsite limited remote access to restricted data through a Virtual Data Enclave for two survey files:  NLSY Geocode and CFOI-Masked data.  More information is available at www.bls.gov/rda/offsite.htm. 

Remote access to limited restricted-use data through a virtual data enclave. 

Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDCs) are Census Bureau facilities, housed in partner institutions, that meet all physical and information security requirements for access to restricted–use micro data of the agencies whose data are accessed there. Remote access via secure Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) is permitted for researchers working with selected data, at the discretion of the data-owning agency. All FSRDC researchers must obtain the Census Bureau`s Special Sworn Status and successfully complete a thorough background investigation prior to accessing an RDC.

Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDCs) are Census Bureau facilities, housed in partner institutions, that meet all physical and information security requirements for access to restricted–use micro data of the agencies whose data are accessed there.

Remote access to the IRS network via a secure VPN line using a government laptop issued and configured by IRS IT.

Remote access to the IRS network via secure VPN line using government laptop issued and configured by IRS IT.

Access at IRS Headquarters, Submission Processing Center, or other satellite (field) offices.

Title	Last Modified
HUD PIC and TRACS RDG 782 Census Bureau	04-10-2023
Survey of Construction RDG 4596 Census Bureau	04-10-2023
HUD Moving to Opportunity RDG 822 Census Bureau	08-08-2023
HUD Family Options Study RDG 12652 Census Bureau	01-18-2024
HUD PIC and TRACS Longitudinal RDG 819 Census Bureau	03-28-2024
HUD Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Integrated Data Base (IDB) RDG 810 Census Bureau	04-30-2024

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