protocolSection identificationModule nctId: NCT06323967, orgStudyIdInfo id: 231981, briefTitle: Growing Strong Study of Unconditional Cash Transfers Plus Peer Support for Families With Babies in Homeless Shelters, statusModule overallStatus: NOT_YET_RECRUITING, startDateStruct date: 2024-04, primaryCompletionDateStruct date: 2027-03, completionDateStruct date: 2027-03, studyFirstPostDateStruct date: 2024-03-21, lastUpdatePostDateStruct date: 2024-03-21, sponsorCollaboratorsModule leadSponsor name: Vanderbilt University, class: OTHER, collaborators name: Women in Need (Win), collaborators name: The Samuels Group, collaborators name: New York City Center for Innovation through Data Intelligence (CIDI), descriptionModule briefSummary: The Growing Strong program tests a novel approach to helping families with young children living in homeless shelters, namely offering guaranteed, unconditional cash gifts that families can use as they wish plus voluntary peer support. The assumption behind this approach is that families know best how to allocate resources to meet their own individual needs. While there are a number of Direct Cash Transfer studies taking place around the country, the investigator(s) are unaware of any that have tested the relationship of receiving cash on homelessness among families specifically. To be eligible to participate in the study, families must reside in a homeless shelter and have at least one child under two years of age living with them in shelter. The investigator(s) have tied eligibility to the age of the youngest child in the household because rates of shelter use are highest among this population and because the costs associated with young children increase such families' financial burdens.A total of 200 families will be enrolled in the study. One hundred families in the active intervention group will receive $1,500 per month ("substantial cash") for 24 months ($18,000 annually) and may also elect to receive peer support services. One hundred families in the active comparison group will receive $50 per month ("nominal cash") for 24 months ($600 annually) and will not have access to the peer support services. A third, passive comparison group will receive usual care within the homeless shelter system in the same metropolitan area (New York City) as participants in both cash gift groups. This group of families will be followed only in administrative records.The main research questions are: does providing substantial, unconditional cash transfers plus access to voluntary peer support services over 24 months a) reduce the length of time in shelter for families with young children and/or b) improve other aspects of family and child well-being relative to providing nominal cash transfers alone or usual care., conditionsModule conditions: Time to Shelter Exit, conditions: Family Well-being, conditions: Child Well-being, designModule studyType: INTERVENTIONAL, phases: NA, designInfo allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED, interventionModel: PARALLEL, interventionModelDescription: Parallel assignment to 1) active treatment and 2) active comparison. A third, passive comparison group will be constructed and followed anonymously via administrative records., primaryPurpose: TREATMENT, maskingInfo masking: TRIPLE, maskingDescription: Participants will be blind to condition at the baseline assessment but will be unmasked immediately afterwards (they will receive debit cards and learn whether they are eligible for peer support). At baseline, interviewers will likely be aware of study conditions because they will interview respondents at shelters and shelter is associated with condition. At subsequent assessments interviewers will remain blind to study condition to the extent possible, but may well learn the condition from respondents, especially those who complete qualitative interviews. Win staff who provide usual care to both groups will be blind to the study condition. Participants in the passive comparison group will be unaware of the study., whoMasked: PARTICIPANT, whoMasked: CARE_PROVIDER, whoMasked: OUTCOMES_ASSESSOR, enrollmentInfo count: 200, type: ESTIMATED, armsInterventionsModule interventions name: Large unconditional cash transfers plus voluntary peer support., interventions name: Nominal cash transfers, interventions name: Passive comparison group, outcomesModule primaryOutcomes measure: Time to shelter exit, secondaryOutcomes measure: Housing: Total time in shelter*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Housing: Housing Stability, secondaryOutcomes measure: Target Child Development: Child Behavior Problems*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Target Child Development: Child Prosocial Behavior*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Target Child Development: Child Verbal Development, secondaryOutcomes measure: Parenting: Chaos in the Home*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Parenting: Early Learning Activities with Target Child*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Parenting: Target-Child-Focused Expenditure Index, secondaryOutcomes measure: Parenting: Household Routines, secondaryOutcomes measure: Parenting: Parenting Stress, secondaryOutcomes measure: Family Separation: Separation of Parent and Target Child (Cumulative at any time point)*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Family Separation: Indicated Investigations, Preventive services, or Child Placement of Target Child by Child Protective Services (No/Yes), secondaryOutcomes measure: Adult Well-Being: Adult Psychological Distress*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Adult Well-Being: Adult Alcohol or Drug Abuse, secondaryOutcomes measure: Adult Well-Being: Hope, secondaryOutcomes measure: Domestic Violence: Adult Domestic Violence*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Financial Well-Being: Food Insecurity*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Financial Well-Being: Adult Economic Stress, secondaryOutcomes measure: Financial Well-Being: Financial Well-Being as Measured by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Financial Well-Being Scale, secondaryOutcomes measure: Financial Well-Being: Financial Hardship as Measured by the Urban Institute Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, secondaryOutcomes measure: Employment: Income from Employment in Most Recent Period*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Employment: Adult Work for Pay, secondaryOutcomes measure: Health Care: Family Use of Emergency Medical Care or Hospitalization (Cumulative at any point)*, secondaryOutcomes measure: Health Care: Proportion of Target Child Immunizations Recommended by Age by the American Academy of Pediatrics, secondaryOutcomes measure: Health Care: Proportion of Well-Child Visits by Target Child Recommended by Age by the American Academy of Pediatrics, eligibilityModule sex: ALL, minimumAge: 18 Years, stdAges: ADULT, stdAges: OLDER_ADULT, contactsLocationsModule locations facility: Win NYC Shelter System, city: New York, state: New York, zip: 10004, country: United States, contacts name: Kirsten Cafarella, B.A., role: CONTACT, phone: 646-899-6943, email: kcafarella@winnyc.org, contacts name: Marybeth Shinn, Ph.D., role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, geoPoint lat: 40.71427, lon: -74.00597, hasResults: False