USC STUDY – ‘MIRACLE MONEY’- Basic income and social support intervention for people experiencing homelessness

USC Suzzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social work began recruitment into a randomized controlled trial to study the impact of Miracle Money (M$), which is a basic income and social support intervention for people experiencing homelessness delivered by the nonprofit, Miracle Messages.

Since then, 103 people experiencing homelessness in either the San Francisco Bay Area or Los Angeles County started receiving $750 per month for 1 year, based on random selection.

Key findings
For people who received M$,the proportion of people who reported spending time unsheltered in the past month decreased from 30% at baseline to under12% atthe 6-month follow-up, which was a statistically significant change (p<.05) .

Forthose in the control group, a modest decrease from 28% to 23% was not statistically significant.

After 6 months, people who received M$ also reported being closer to having
enough money to meet all oftheir basic needs on a scale of 1 (i.e.,“Completely”)to 5 (i.e.,“Not at all”) as compared to the control group. This was a significant improvementforthose receiving M$ (p<.05) with no change in the control group.

Use of funds
In-depth qualitative interviews with a subsample of 20 individuals in M$
who started receiving monthly income within the past 3 months provide
some understanding of how people are spending money

“I used the money to catch up on bills. I did a carrepairthat was gruesomely needed,right back brakes, playing catch up on some deferred maintenance on the car, making a couple payments.Catching my phone payment up.”

“I live in a Tiny Homes Site and the food here is not diabetic friendly. And so now I can buy healthierfood, eat a salad or something healthier.”

“I spent a lot ofthe money on food on the go. Simple, cheap things like bean and cheese burritos.I eat on the run while I bike/work for DoorDash. I also bought a membership to REI, so I could get my bike fixed for free.”

https://dworakpeck.usc.edu/

https://dworakpeck.usc.edu/research/centers/homelessness-housing-health-equity