Chapin Hall

Baseline Characteristics of Youth in NYC Cash with Care Pilot

Chapin Hall is conducting a mixed-methods, longitudinal evaluation of the Cash with Care pilot, a 12-month direct cash pilot implemented by Covenant House New York. The pilot pairs monthly cash transfers with opt-in care navigation for 60 youth ages 18–24 experiencing homelessness. This brief presents a baseline snapshot of Cash with Care participants at pilot entry. Chapin Hall’s STEP (Supporting Transitions through Engagement with Programs) Study will track how participants’ experiences and outcomes evolve over the course of the study and beyond.

What We Did

The study sample includes 58 participants (two did not consent to participating in research) and 61 youth accessing services as usual across Covenant House New York sites, all ages 18–24. Because of differences in eligibility criteria and youth who make up the sample, the two groups are not directly comparable, so this brief provides summary statistics for the Cash with Care group only. Baseline surveys of this group captured demographic characteristics across key domains.

What We Found

Participants reflect a profile consistent with national patterns of youth experiencing homelessness, including having high rates of foster care and juvenile justice system involvement, previous experience with homelessness, difficulty meeting basic needs, and struggles with mental well-being.

• About one-quarter (25.9%) report prior foster care involvement. Approximately 12% had a prior arrest and about 7% were on probation before age 18.
• About one-quarter of participants had not completed high school, while nearly half had started college without completing a degree. Roughly 41% were actively enrolled in school, college, or a training program.
• At entry, more than half (55%) had experienced homelessness before age 18.
• Participants reported economic hardship at baseline, including difficulty affording food. Nearly two-thirds reported feeling like they were just getting by financially.
• Nearly one-quarter of participants reported feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge for at least half the days in the past 30 days. Twenty-eight percent reported being able to stop worrying for at least half the days in that same period.

What It Means

Baseline data establish a picture of the complex circumstances young people brought to the pilot at entry, including varied histories of system involvement, economic hardship, and disrupted education and employment. The STEP Study will examine whether cash transfers, paired with flexible care navigation, create space for young people to move beyond meeting immediate basic needs toward greater agency, service engagement, and longer-term stability. Findings from this work will help inform strategies to help youth exit homelessness in New York City and contribute to a growing national evidence base on direct cash transfers.

For more information about this project, contact Sarah Berger Gonzalez.

Read the brief