Oregon pilot program giving cash to youth sees staggering reduction in homelessness – Salem Reporter:
We’re giving $1,000 a month, no strings attached, to homeless young adults to see if their situation in life improves. Who’s life isn’t improved by free money?
Oregon’s program is among a handful of state and local initiatives testing the idea that consistent and unconditional payments to homeless youths will get them housed faster than long-standing services that often don’t consider the complexity of their lives.
So far, Oregon’s pilot program, called “Direct Cash Transfer,” and a similar initiative in New York City, have shown signs that the cash helped youths, ages 18 to 24, move out of shelters. Of the 117 youths, including Huffman, who completed Oregon’s two-year pilot program, 91% reported being in stable housing when its first phase ended in January.
But how much long-term difference the cash will make for homeless youths, many of whom exited foster care and have little experience managing money, is unsettled. Researchers say it’s unclear how much young people see their housing situations improve, if the money will bring lasting changes to their lives and if cash payments are enough.
While most youths are trying to use the program to change their life trajectory, she said it’s still a challenge to get them to be responsible with the money. Youths in the program are surprised when they create budgets, realizing how much lattes add up, she said. But in the end, the choices are theirs alone.
This is why handing out taxpayer money to the poor doesn’t work: Most of the poor got there through terrible financial decisions. Additional money does not change that behavior.
The Oregon Department of Human Services is evaluating the first phase of its direct cash pilot program to see what difference the cash made for the homeless youths. The department recently launched the second phase.
The results could be consequential for the state. The number of people experiencing homelessness here rose to 22,875 — the eighth-largest number of any state — according to the results of last year’s federally mandated point-in-time count.
Of those, 1,315 were youths between 18 and 24. That’s about the same number as Texas, which has a population seven times that of Oregon.
This is just another example of what the Democratic Party’s policies have done to Oregon.
With funding from private foundations, New York City in March 2022 launched its Trust Youth Initiative that made monthly payments of $1,100 to 78 homeless youths over the course of two years.
In other words, the “study” that Oregon is running has basically already been done (in case common sense wasn’t enough).
However, six months after the payments stopped, they reported nearly the same level of food insecurity as before the program. Additionally, researchers concluded that the program “did not appear to have had an impact” on employment, education or other long-term outcomes.
Huh. Weird.
…Fashana was working with Point Source Youth and participated in a focus group during the pandemic when Oregon was trying to respond to a rise in youth homelessness. She said the focus group included community organizations, state leaders and young people experiencing homelessness. The youths made clear that what they needed most was flexible cash, she said.
Yeah, the drug dealers on the corner won’t accept EBT, and that’s a real downer.
Oregon’s first phase of this program cost $5.1 million, and ” is still being evaluated for what difference it made for youths’ financial status, access to resources and well-being.”
The Oregon Department of Human Services allowed youths to describe the stability of their housing situation from their perspective, which aligned with the initiative’s focus on autonomy, program manager Matthew Rasmussen said in an emailed statement.
There should absolutely not be a “focus on autonomy.” There should be a focus on directly providing food, clothing, and shelter at the minimum level necessary for the homeless to right themselves, likely with assistance, and rejoin society.