Cash Transfers for People Experiencing Homelessness

The primary goal of the study is to determine the impacts of a one-time unconditional cash transfer on the well-being of people experiencing homelessness.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Personal Satisfaction; Homelessness
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Cash transfer

Detailed Description

The goal of this project is to examine the effect of cash-transfers for people experiencing homelessness in Metro Vancouver. In partnership with Foundations for Social Change, we will distribute a one-time unconditional cash transfer of $8,500 to each of the 200 participants, with 200 additional participants in a control group who will not receive the cash transfer. To evaluate the effect of the cash transfer, participants will complete surveys 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after the cash transfer, and we will track important life outcomes such as housing, employment, health, cognitive function, and well-being.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 400
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Jiaying Zhao, PhD; Phone Number: 604-827-2203; Email: jiayingz@psych.ubc.ca

Study Locations

• Canada
  • British Columbia
    • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
      • Recruiting
      • University of British Columbia
      • Contact: Jiaying Zhao, PhD; Email: jiayingz@psych.ubc.ca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Participants must be homeless at the time of recruitment.
2. Participants must be between 18 and 65 years of age, inclusive.
3. Participants must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident in Canada

Exclusion Criteria:

The following participants will be excluded:

1. Participants who report severe problematic substance use (score ≥ 6 on DAST).
2. Participants who report severe problematic alcohol use (score ≥ 20 on AUDIT).
3. Participants who report severe psychiatric symptoms (score above 2 on item 5 or above 4 on items 13 or 14 on CSI).
4. Participants who report problematic gambling behavior (score ≥ 8 on PGSI).

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Cash; Participants will receive a one-time unconditional cash transfer of $8,500 CAD.	Behavioral: Cash transfer; Participants will receive a one-time unconditional cash transfer of $8,500.
NO_INTERVENTION: Control; Participants will not receive a cash transfer.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Stable housing	Number of days spent in stable housing.	1-3 months
Homelessness	Number of days spent homeless.	1-3 months
Savings	Total value of financial assets.	1-3 months
Total Spending	Amount of money spent on regular and one-time purchases.	1-3 months
Spending on Rent	Amount of money spent on rent.	1-3 months
Spending on temptation goods	Amount of money spent on temptation goods, such as drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes.	1-3 months
Cost of shelter use	Estimated societal cost of shelter use based on number of days staying in shelter	1-3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of British Columbia
• Collaborators: Foundations for Social Change

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): May 2, 2022
• Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED): December 1, 2023
• Study Completion (ANTICIPATED): December 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 9, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 9, 2022
• First Posted (ACTUAL): May 13, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): May 13, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 9, 2022
• Last Verified: May 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: H21-02584

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: We will share non-identifiable data privately with other researchers.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: The data will become available after data collection has ended and after the data have been cleaned.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF; ANALYTIC_CODE; CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No