Public-Private Partnership Launches the First Direct Cash Transfer Study for Addressing Young Adult Homelessness. First Project Begins in New York City. NYC Nonprofit Agencies Can Apply For Funding To Staff And Implement The Pilot Program.

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Trust Youth Initiative: Direct Cash Transfers to Address Young Adult Homelessness (young people age 18-24) involves the first study of the effectiveness of direct cash assistance with optional supportive services to help advance the goal of ending youth homelessness. The project will take place in New York City (NYC) and build actionable evidence. In the first phase, 30-40 young adults (ages 18-24) experiencing homelessness will receive $1,250 per month for up to two years. A large international evidence base shows that direct cash transfer programs improve outcomes for people in poverty and other marginalized situations, but they have never been specifically developed or evaluated for young people experiencing homelessness.

A collaborative team from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and Point Source Youth developed the project based on an intensive research and multistakeholder design process. Point Source Youth will oversee and support program design and implementation by local nonprofit(s), Chapin Hall will lead research and evaluation, and UpTogether will manage the cash transfers to participants through its online platform. All three organizations will work together to develop evidence and infrastructure for a scalable policy solution to our nation's youth homelessness crisis.

New York City youth- and young adult-serving nonprofit agencies are encouraged to consider applying to the Request for Proposals announced today for implementing the project's supportive programming and recruitment processes. 

Young adults with lived experience of homelessness co-designed the project, providing critical perspectives on how it can help end youth homelessness. Each participant can make several choices about payment frequency, payment options (e.g., Venmo, PayPal, direct deposit, debit card), and requesting a larger upfront payment to get into housing. Optional services that meet youth where they are at will accompany the financial support. These include coaching, peer support, connections to care, financial coaching, and housing navigation.

The project's flexible approach aims to improve young people's stable housing and well-being by providing the means to afford the types of housing they choose and the supports to make investments in their own goals, education, and career development. The collaborative project team will work with youth and NYC partners to ensure that the program's design and delivery reflect the needs and preferences of youth with lived experience of homelessness, especially Black, Indigenous, Latinx and LGBTQ youth.

A rigorous evaluation will compare the outcomes and experiences of young people in the project to young people who receive smaller stipends for completing surveys and have continued access to services traditionally available, such as shelters and existing housing programs. Subject to funding and evaluation outcomes, after the first year of evaluation, the partners will use initial results to enhance and expand the program and evaluation to significantly more youth. The expanded evaluation will track outcomes with a larger sample for up to three years. In addition to better outcomes for youth, the project aims to produce cost savings through reductions in shelter use, preventing legal and health systems involvement associated with homelessness, and eventually increasing young people's long-term earnings potential through education and career pathways. 

The initiative is funded by the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, the NYC Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity (for evaluation support), the Block-Leavitt Foundation, Melville Charitable Trust, Robin Hood Foundation, and the NYC Fund to End Youth & Family Homelessness, a funder collaborative that is hosted by FJC - A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds. It also involves collaboration with multiple NYC Government agencies, including the Office of the Mayor, the Center for Innovation through Data Intelligence (CIDI), the Continuum of Care (CoC) and its Youth Action Board, the Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD), and the Department of Social Services (DSS).

Statements
"A Recovery for All of Us requires embracing innovating solutions to our most pressing challenges," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "The direct cash transfer study, designed in collaboration with Chapin Hall and Point Source Youth, will help uplift young people and reinforces our commitment to ending youth homelessness once and for all."

"New York City is the place many young people from towns and cities across the country look to for hope and a home, particularly LGBTQI youth who disproportionately experience physical and mental health challenges, and higher rates of homelessness and unemployment," said First Lady Chirlane McCray, who leads the NYC Unity Project and is chair of the Mayor's Fund. "Today's announcement strengthens our commitment to provide social and economic supports that are critical to long-term success and stability for young people across our City."

"Connecting young people experiencing homelessness with the proven success of cash transfers is incredibly exciting and we are proud to support this work," noted Aimee Hendrigan, Executive Vice President of the Melville Charitable Trust. "We believe this is an efficient, effective and scalable model, and are especially pleased that it was co-designed by youth who have lived experience of homelessness."

"The pathway to stability begins with trust--trust in  an individual's ability to be their first and primary resource. And secondary, the trust of their community and support systems. The cash transfer project may provide that kind of community trust for those like me — Asylum Seekers and those displaced, whom are not fortunate enough to have this kind of support when navigating houseless-ness or are at risk of losing housing in one the most difficult places to find and afford housing in all of the United States. The evaluation and evidence building processes underlying this project have been and must continue to be guided through continuous engagement of those impacted." – Jha'asryel-Akquil Bishop, Co-Chair of the NYC Continuum of Care, Executive of the National Youth Forum on Homelessness, and Co-Founder of Streetlives

"Without a place to call home, it can be impossible to envision and build a future.  Everyone who cares about building a better, more equitable future must care about preventing and ending the crisis of youth homelessness. To do this, we must ensure that all young people, especially BIPOC and LGTBQ young people, have the resources they need to build and share in that future. That starts with a safe and stable place to call home. The NYC Fund to End Youth & Family Homelessness is proud to be the anchor funder of this innovative work as we seek to advance racial, gender, and LGTBTQ equity through housing justice." – John Kimble, Senior Advisor to the NYC Fund to End Youth & Family Homelessness

"I am beyond thrilled to announce the Trust Youth Initiative. Young people are experts in their own lives - period. A solution that works to end youth homelessness provides young people experiencing homelessness, especially historically marginalized queer, trans, Black, indigenous, youth of color, directly and unconditionally, the totality of resources they need.  We must provide direct cash and youth directed support so youth can exit youth homelessness and can flourish in life." – Larry Cohen, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Point Source Youth

"The Trust Youth Initiative represents a major opportunity to build evidence and improve systemic solutions for preventing and ending youth homelessness. Direct cash transfers are supported by a solid international evidence base, and they recognize people's agency. It's time to evaluate this kind of support with young people who, for no fault of their own, don't have the same access to resources for meeting basic needs that many of their peers have during transitions to adulthood. Providing direct financial assistance with supports to young people has the potential to empower them to make investments in their own success while helping to counter racial inequities stemming from legacies of injustice." – Matthew Morton, Research Fellow and study principal investigator, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

Additional Information
On a single night, nearly 4,500 unaccompanied and parenting youth (ages 18-24) experience homelessness in NYC. While NYC has invested in a robust crisis response system over the last few years contributing to an increase in shelter beds and access to drop-in centers, a city-wide youth homelessness system assessment underscored that critical gaps remain. Among those include flexible, equitable, and cost-efficient interventions to help young people exit homelessness and get on a path to thriving. To this end, direct cash transfers offer a promising solution.

Direct cash transfer programs are supported by a vast international evidence base. Numerous evaluations show that they reduce poverty, boost well-being, and increase education and employment. Contrary to common beliefs, studies show that cash transfers to people experiencing adversity do not result in money poorly spent, increased substance use, or reduced motivation to work. In fact, evaluations have found that recipients mostly spend cash assistance on basic needs, that the financial support has helped people engage in education and productive employment, and that these programs tend to reduce risky behaviors and negative health outcomes.

A short animated overview explains how direct cash transfers for youth experiencing homelessness works.

A recent national study found that about 1 in 10 individuals ages 18-25 experienced some form of homelessness during a year. These young people face very high risk for sexual or other exploitation and negative health outcomes, and housing instability disrupts their ability to thrive in education and employment. Most of these young people are Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and LGBTQ.

The share of young adults living with their parents recently reached a majority (52%) for the first time since the Great Depression. Millions of young Americans stay with family or rely on their financial support for basic needs; for millions more, this is not an option. The legacies of racism, LGBTQ discrimination, structural disadvantage, and corresponding unequal distribution of wealth mean that many young people lack a stable sense of home during the transition to adulthood. In NYC and nationally, escalating housing costs and rising income inequality over the last two decades have left young people in need of greater investments to achieve stable housing and their full potential.

The COVID-19 pandemic not only revealed the fissures and significant systemic inequities in our systems of support, it magnified the toll of housing and food insecurity among young people. Research shows job losses and economic hardships amidst the pandemic disproportionately affect youth of color. Achieving comprehensive and durable solutions requires us to develop and test new initiatives.

SOURCE Point Source Youth

Related Links

http://www.pointsourceyouth.org