This brief, from the ACF Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), compares participation rates in benefit programs of families in the Family Options Study with those of families in poverty from the same counties using American Community survey data. The authors found that families staying in emergency shelter are connected to benefit programs at similar or higher rates than other families in poverty in the same communities. This brief presents some evidence that continued housing instability makes families susceptible to either losing or difficulty accessing public benefits.