Silicon Valley Guaranteed Income Project

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about how unconditional cash payments equivalent to $1,000 for 24 months (also called 'guaranteed income') might help families experiencing homelessness and/or unstable housing in Santa Clara County, California.The main questions it aims to answer are:What is the impact of guaranteed income on homelessness and housing stability among families experiencing homelessness or housing instability?What is the impact of guaranteed income on the health and well-being of families experiencing homelessness or housing instability?In terms of size and frequency of cash payments, do families prefer monthly recurrent payments ($1,000/month) vs a larger up front amount followed by smaller monthly payments ($6,500/month, then $500/month)? Is one payment strategy more helpful than the other in terms of achieving improved housing stability, health, or other measures of well-being?

Inclusion Criteria:≥18 years of age at baseline visit/assessmentExperiencing homelessness, as defined by:The HEARTH Act; orLiving in a public or private space intended for temporary (≤6 month) residence, such as residing in a hotel/motel;Residing in a space without a legal right to the space and therefore being at threat of being asked to leave at any time (i.e., no lease); and/orBeing in a shared living situation intended to be temporary (i.e., being 'doubled up' due to lack of available and/or affordable housing).Vulnerability-Index Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT) score within the eligibility range for referral to rapid rehousing assistance programs in Santa Clara County (score of 4-8 for households), if available at the time of study entry.- The VI-SPDAT score is commonly used by housing assistance service providers to prioritize households for housing assistance programs, where households with scores of 0-3 are lower priority for referral to programs, and households with scores of 9+ are recommended for referral to more intensive housing services such as permanent supportive housing (which combine affordable housing assistance with voluntary support services including health and mental health care, case management and other social supportive services). Households with a score of 4-8 are considered most appropriate for referral to housing assistance programs that may not offer additional supportive services.Living in a household with ≥1 dependent children (i.e., ≤17 years of age at the time of study entry)Written informed consent (and assent when applicable) obtained from participant or participant's legal representative and ability for participant to comply with the requirements of the study.Exclusion Criteria:Substantial to severe level of problematic substance use as defined by the validated Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) (score of 6-8 or 9-10, respectively).Hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption, or active and severe alcohol use disorder as defined by the validated Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) (score of 8-14 and ≥15, respectively).