Pre-Implementation of the San Francisco Trust Youth Initiative & Evaluation

Through this proposal, national partners, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, Point Source Youth, and J-PAL invited researcher, Dr. Michael Cassidy; lead community-based organization, Larkin Street Youth Services; and young adult partners with lived expertise will collaboratively carry out key pre-implementation activities to stand up a San Francisco initiative to implement and evaluate a “cash plus” intervention, the Trust Youth Initiative, for addressing young adult homelessness and bolstering housing and racial justice. The intervention will include 24 months of unconditional direct cash transfers (DCTs) funded and designed to support stable housing, along with optional, youth-driven supportive programming (e.g., peer support, housing navigation, and financial coaching). The evaluation will include a randomized impact evaluation for at least 30 months, as well as a mixed methods process evaluation. This study would join an emerging multi-site cohort of similar trials across the country.