Growing Strong Study of Unconditional Cash Transfers Plus Peer Support for Families With Babies in Homeless Shelters

The Growing Strong program tests a novel approach to helping families with young children living in homeless shelters, namely offering guaranteed, unconditional cash gifts that families can use as they wish plus voluntary peer support. The assumption behind this approach is that families know best how to allocate resources to meet their own individual needs. While there are a number of Direct Cash Transfer studies taking place around the country, the investigator(s) are unaware of any that have tested the relationship of receiving cash on homelessness among families specifically. To be eligible to participate in the study, families must reside in a homeless shelter and have at least one child under two years of age living with them in shelter. The investigator(s) have tied eligibility to the age of the youngest child in the household because rates of shelter use are highest among this population and because the costs associated with young children increase such families' financial burdens.

A total of 200 families will be enrolled in the study. One hundred families in the active intervention group will receive $1,500 per month ("substantial cash") for 24 months ($18,000 annually) and may also elect to receive peer support services. One hundred families in the active comparison group will receive $50 per month ("nominal cash") for 24 months ($600 annually) and will not have access to the peer support services. A third, passive comparison group will receive usual care within the homeless shelter system in the same metropolitan area (New York City) as participants in both cash gift groups. This group of families will be followed only in administrative records.

The main research questions are: does providing substantial, unconditional cash transfers plus access to voluntary peer support services over 24 months a) reduce the length of time in shelter for families with young children and/or b) improve other aspects of family and child well-being relative to providing nominal cash transfers alone or usual care.