Silicon Valley Guaranteed Income Project

Conditions

• Families Experiencing Homelessness and/or Housing Instability
• Housing Stability

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• Guaranteed Income — OTHER
  Guaranteed income payments will be disbursed monthly for a total of 24 months to participants who are randomized to the guaranteed income intervention group. Participants will be given the choice to select from one of two different payment strategies (equal monthly payments of $1,000/month vs hybrid payment schedule with initial amount of $6,500 the first month followed by $500/month x 11 months); payment strategy preferences will be re-assessed after 12 months. The choice of payment strategy will be strictly left to participants to specify.
• Public Benefits Information Session — OTHER
  All participants (both the control and intervention groups) will be offered the option of attending a Public Benefits Information Session during which they will receive a comprehensive resource directory of public benefit, assistance, and social service programs available to residents of Santa Clara County, have the opportunity to ask questions about enrolling in those programs, and also have the opportunity to seek additional benefits navigation assistance from our community partner, Sacred Heart Community Service. This session is intended to be optional, with the decision to attend and participant to be left to the discretion of each study participant. Attendance is not required for study participation.

Study Details

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about how unconditional cash payments equivalent to $1,000 for 24 months (also called 'guaranteed income') might help families experiencing homelessness and/or unstable housing in Santa Clara County, California. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. What is the impact of guaranteed income on homelessness and housing stability among families experiencing homelessness or housing instability? 2. What is the impact of guaranteed income on the health and well-being of families experiencing homelessness or housing instability? 3. In terms of size and frequency of cash payments, do families prefer monthly recurrent payments ($1,000/month) vs a larger up front amount followed by smaller monthly payments ($6,500/month, then $500/month)? Is one payment strategy more helpful than the other in terms of achieving improved housing stability, health, or other measures of well-being?

Key Dates

Start date

Dec 10, 2022

Status verified

Feb 2026

Primary completion

Jun 30, 2026

Completion

Dec 31, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment

300 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Arms

• Active Comparator: Usual Care
  Participants in the active comparator control group will receive usual care, which includes usual public benefit, assistance and social service programs that are available at the local, county, state, and federal levels to all residents of Santa Clara County. They will also be offered the option to attend a Public Benefits Information Session.
• Experimental: Guaranteed Income
  Participants in the intervention group will receive guaranteed income gift payments equivalent to $1,000/month for a total of 24 months in addition to usual care. They will also have the option to attend the same Public Benefits Information Session being offered to the control group as above.

Primary Outcome Measure

Number of days experiencing homelessness [ Time Frame: At 24 months after randomization ]

Locations (2)

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