Illinois Stability Investment for Family Housing (SIFH) Pilot

This project aims to study the impact of a large one-time cash transfer to families with children who are currently homeless and engaged in emergency homeless services. The project will evaluate how such a cash transfer impacts future homelessness and housing stability more broadly. We also plan to study how the assistance affects recipients’ well-being and mental health, labor market participation, use of other government programs, criminal justice contact, and children’s educational outcomes. After recruiting 1,127 adults with children staying at emergency shelters and transitional housing across urban, suburban, and rural areas of Illinois, we randomly assigned participants to a treatment group who received a one-time, unconditional $9,500 cash transfer and a control group who received $500.