The Research
The Research
In spring 2018, Foundations for Social Change launched our Vancouver pilot project to rigorously evaluate the impact of our approach to direct cash transfers to recently homeless individuals. We conducted the project as a Randomized Controlled Trial, which is the gold standard of scientific research and allows us to compare our supports to business as usual.
Half of the eligible participants were randomly selected to receive a one-time cash transfer of $7,500*. Cash transfers were then deposited into participants’ bank accounts in one lump sum.**
We then followed the 115 New Leaf project participants for one year.
Read the peer-reviewed paper here.
*Evidence shows that a lump sum of money has greater potential to transform someone’s life than a sequence of small payments. This amount is benchmarked against the annual income assistance rate (2016) in British Columbia.
**Participants who did not have a bank account, were provided with an account through our partnership with Vancity.
Eligibility
Project participants were carefully screened for program eligibility to ensure the highest likelihood of success. Our goals in designing these criteria were to support participants to the highest degree possible, assess their readiness for change, and reduce any risk of harm.
Eligibility criteria included:
19+ years of age
Newly homeless and living in a temporary shelter situation
Canadian citizen or permanent resident
Low risk of mental health challenges and substance abuse
The New Leaf Project
A bold social research program, in which we provided direct cash transfers to individuals, to empower them to move beyond homelessness
The Direct Giving Model
A one-time cash transfer for someone living in poverty that can be spent according to individual needs
Impact
Direct cash recipients moved into stable housing faster and maintained a level of financial security and stability over 12 months
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