Title
Presentation on Rise Up Alameda (Guaranteed Income Pilot Program) 12-Month Interim Report
Body
To: Members of the Social Service Human Relations Board
Executive summary
The City of Alameda’s Base Reuse and Economic Development Department will present the Rise Up Alameda (Guaranteed Income Pilot Program) 12-Month Interim Report to the Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB).
BACKGROUND
On May 17, 2022, the Alameda City Council (Council) directed staff to proceed with a guaranteed income (GI) pilot program. SSHRB has been involved with the pilot program from the beginning, advising on outreach initiatives and receiving staff presentations on October 7, 2022 and August 23, 2023, before the launch of the program. A member of SSHRB sits on the program’s Advisory Board.
Nearly 200 cities and local jurisdictions are conducting, or have recently conducted GI pilot programs, which provide a monthly cash payment to a defined population of residents. These programs are distinct from other financial assistance programs in that they are:
• Unconditional, without a work requirement or any other conditions;
• Unrestricted, allowing individuals to determine what they need; and
• include regular payments for a period of time, rather than a one-time only grant.
This flexibility empowers recipients to make their own decisions on spending the money in a way that best meets their basic needs allowing for dignity and self-determination. The defined period of time associated with a pilot program allows valuable data to be collected, which may help inform larger policy and program development designed to alleviate poverty. Academic research has indicated that GI programs increase expenditure on education and training, improve food security, and improve measures of well-being among the recipients.
An Advisory Board has also been formed to support RUA. The Advisory Board is composed of community and advocacy organizations, individuals with lived experience (i.e. low-income persons) and City staff to help guide and inform decision-making on key program elements.
Alameda’s pilot program, called Rise Up Alameda (RUA), provides $1,000 per month to approximately 150 low-income households over a two-year period. The goals of the City’s program are to help:
• reduce economic volatility for program participants;
• change local narratives and perceptions surrounding poverty and sense of community belonging; and
• collect data and contribute to information gathered from other GI programs nationally and inform the larger policy discussions regarding anti-poverty measures.
Research Component On November 15, 2022, following a competitive bidding process, Council approved a contract with Abt Associates (which later became Abt Global) (Abt) to serve as the program research partner responsible for the quantitative analysis of the program’s contribution to the financial stability of the recipients, determine the methodology for the selection of the program participants and to help measure the statistical significant of the program’s effectiveness.
The research component has also been important to obtain benefits waivers from the State so that recipients are not at risk of losing benefits from other assistance programs. The State would not grant waivers without this research component.
Abt’s Selection and Survey Methodology. RUA launched September 8, 2023 with an eleven-day application period that spanned two weekends. Multi-language applications were screened by Abt to meet the following eligibility requirements;
• Participants must be an Alameda resident at the start of the program;
• Be 18 years of age or older; and
• Have an annual income below 50 percent of Area Median Income (AMI), which at the time of the application process was $51,800 for a family of one.
Through a lottery system, Abt randomly selected 150 individuals to participate in the pilot program. On average, the participants reported a household income of $31,836, significantly lower than 50 percent of AMI. Additionally, about half (49%) of the participants were between the ages of 25 and 50, and about one quarter (26%) were age 62 or older. RUA’s participant population trends older with an average participant age of 49 years. A majority of participants (64%) reported using public benefits such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or housing assistance.
Under its contract, Abt is to conduct follow-up surveys of the participants at the program’s midpoint (12-months) and conclusion (24-months). Abt’s approach is a randomized controlled trial (RCT), which compares outcomes between RUA participants (the program group) versus similar Alameda residents who were not offered the monthly payments (the control group). The control group met the eligibility requirements to participate in the pilot but were ultimately not randomly selected to participate - they did not receive GI payments.
Abt used a standardized survey instrument developed by the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR). Using this nationally recognized research tool enables Abt to compare its final RUA two-year data and outcomes to other GI pilot programs, while also contributing to a larger body of work. Abt’s methodology and protocols were rigorously vetted and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Abt has conducted similar studies for eight other pilot GI programs across the country, including the cities of Baltimore, Atlanta, Birmingham, Louisville, and Shreveport.
This staff report presents the findings from Abt’s 12-month, mid-program study (see Exhibit One, Rise Up Alameda Guaranteed Income Study: One-Year Insights). The current report is not a complete study of the program and staff anticipate a more detailed analysis at the close of the pilot. Below are summarized some of the major findings in Abt’s interim, mid-program study. Staff has met with and presented these results to the Advisory Board as well as the Social Service Human Relations Board.
Discussion
Analyzing data from the first year of the program, the interim report finds that RUA participants are doing better than people in the control group across several key evaluation markers. Researchers found statistically significant improvements amongst the recipient group in financial well-being, mental health and sense of community, and no negative effect on employment.
Of the 40 outcomes it measured, Abt found improvement in 17 of them. Abt found that Alameda’s interim results are encouraging because they showed improvements in more outcome measures than a majority of other pilot programs.
Below are summarized some of the major findings in Abt’s study, which compared outcomes between RUA participants (the program group) versus similar Alameda residents who were not offered the monthly payments (the control group).
● Financial Well-being
○ Rise Up recipients showed greater financial stability and resilience. They were more likely than the control group to be able to handle a $400 emergency-the definition of “living paycheck-to-paycheck”-and were nearly twice as likely to have $500 or more saved. Only 15% of recipients said they were going into debt, compared to 42% of the control group. Rise Up participants were also more likely to have money left over at the end of each month (13%) than the control group (1%).
● Mental and Physical Health
○ Recipients reported improved mental health across a variety of measures: lower stress, increased hopefulness, an improved sense of mattering, and more community engagement. These differences were statistically significant compared to the control group.
● Sense of Community
○ Recipients were 10 percentage points more likely to be involved in community activities, including PTAs and parent groups, religious and social clubs, professional associations, and more.
● Employment
○ There was no statistical impact on employment, but Rise Up recipients who were unemployed at the start of the program reported feeling more hopeful about setting goals and reaching them.
• Housing
o There was no significant improvement in housing outcomes. Due to the small number of program participants who recently experienced or are experiencing homelessness (both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness), Abt was unable to determine if there was any real change in homelessness due to GI. Abt was also unable to detect a significant improvement in other housing outcomes. For example, Abt found no change in the percentage of people who rent or own their homes. In addition, it may take longer for changes in housing to be reflected in the data (e.g. the time to plan and actually move).
Next Steps:
• Notification of Last Disbursements. Starting at the beginning of August, Operation Dignity, the City’s administrative partner, will be regularly notifying the participants-in multiple languages-of their last payments in November 2025. Operation Dignity will also offer free financial and benefits counseling to the recipients.
• Narrative/Storytelling Component. Working closely with the Advisory Board, the City will implement the narrative and story-telling component over the next six to twelve months. With funds from a Y & H Soda Foundation grant, the City will work with Maven Collaborative to develop a series of workshops that will guide the narrative storytelling component and to help illustrate the personal value and human aspect of RUA through individual lived experiences to a broader audience. The narrative storytelling will help illuminate Abt’s quantitative analysis.
• 24-month Survey and Final Report. Abt will launch its 24-month survey in December 2025, with final report anticipated in Spring/Summer 2026. Through data comparability and Abt’s existing data-sharing agreements, Abt will be able to benchmark Alameda’s results with MGI’s national portfolio of other pilot programs.
Timeline
|
Action |
Estimated Timeframe |
|
Presentation of 12-month Report to City Council |
September 2, 2025 |
|
Last disbursements |
November. 2025 |
|
Operation Dignity to notify participants of last payment and availability of benefits counseling services |
August through December, 2025 |
|
Develop and Implement Narrative/Storytelling component |
Fall 2025 through Spring/Summer 2026 |
|
Abt conduct 24-month survey of participants |
December, 2025 |
|
Abt presentation of 24-month survey results and final report |
September, 2026 |
RECOMMENDATION
This item is for discussion purposes only. No action is needed.
Respectfully submitted,
Jackie Keliiaa, Development Manager
Eric Fonstein, Development Manager
Exhibits
1. Rise Up Alameda Guaranteed Income Study: One-Year Insights. Abt Global.