Black Economic Equity Movement

NCT05609188 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: 1U01OD033266-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 300
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The primary goal is to understand the potential impacts of Guaranteed Income (GI) on Black youth and young adults' financial, emotional, and physical well-being. The main question it aims to answer is: What are the impacts of GI on Black young adults' investments in their future, mental health and unmet mental and sexual/reproductive health service needs? Participants will receive guaranteed income for 12 months and will be offered enrollment in financial capability programs.

Conditions

Mental Health Wellness 1; Health Care Utilization; Financial Hardship; Education, Professional

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Proportion of Participants with a Possible Major, Probable Major, or Major Depressive Episode

  Using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESDR-10), a 'major depressive episode' is defined as 1) presence of anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure), dysphoria (generalized dissatisfaction with life), or irritability 'all the time' or 5-7 days for the past week and 2) at least 4 additional symptoms occurring 'all the time' or 5-7 days in the past week. A 'probable major depressive episode' is defined as 1) presence of anhedonia, dysphoria or irritability nearly every day for the past week, and 2) an additional 3 symptoms occurring 'all the time' or 5-7 days in the past week. A 'possible major depressive episode' is defined as 1) presence of anhedonia, dysphoria or irritability nearly every day for the past week, and 2) an additional 2 symptoms occurring 5-7 days in the past week. The analysis plan includes use of repeated measures to estimate the difference in depressive symptoms at 12 months between study arms relative to baseline proportion.

  12 months of follow-up

• Proportion of Participants Reporting Investments in the future

  Indication of enrollment in education, certification, or employment training programs. The analysis plan includes use of repeated measures to estimate the difference in investments in the future at 12 months between study arms relative to baseline proportion.

  12 months of follow-up

• Proportion of Participants with Unmet Mental Health Service Needs

  Defined as the absence of receiving mental health care when needed. Unmet mental health need will be assessed by possible, probably or major depressive episode per the CESDR-10 or ≥ 10 on the brief Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), and not reporting that care was utilized. Service utilization is based on self-report as stating "no" to having accessed any MH service from any kind of health professional. The analysis plan includes the use of repeated measures to estimate the difference in unmet mental health service needs between study arms.

  12 months of follow-up

• Unmet Sexual and Reproductive Health Service Needs

  Defined as the absence of receiving sexual and reproductive health services when needed, including STI testing and family planning. This will be measured as self-reported need for SRH (having symptoms of an STI, unprotected sex, or being at risk of unwanted pregnancy) and not reporting that SRH services were utilized. Service utilization is based on self-report as stating "no" to having accessed any SRH service from any kind of health professional. The analysis plan includes the use of repeated measures to estimate the difference in unmet sexual and reproductive health service needs between study arms.

  12 months of follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (6)

• Savings: Proportion of participants with saving to cover a $400 expense

  Baseline and 12 months

• Proportion of Participants with Debt

  Baseline and 12 months

• Credit score

  Baseline and 12 months

• Proportion of participants with Generalized Anxiety

  12 months of follow-up

• Hope for the future

  Baseline and 12 months

Study Arms (2)

Cash now

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants allocated to the "cash now" arm will receive a $500/month Guaranteed Income (GI) during the first twelve months of follow-up (Phase 1) and no GI in the second twelve months of follow-up (Phase 2).

Other: Guaranteed Income; Behavioral: Peer learning circles; Behavioral: Financial coaching

Cash in a year

OTHER

Participants allocated to the "cash in a year" arm will receive no Guaranteed Income (GI) during the first twelve months of follow-up (Phase 1) but will receive a $500/month GI in the second twelve months of follow-up (Phase 2).

Other: Guaranteed Income; Behavioral: Peer learning circles; Behavioral: Financial coaching

Interventions

Guaranteed Income OTHER

Monthly cash transfer of $500 per month for 12 months.

Cash in a year; Cash now

Peer learning circles BEHAVIORAL

Participants can opt-in to attend peer learning circles (also called My Money Hour), which are discussion groups of 10-12 participants about financial topics co-led by a peer (Black youth) with experience in financial programming and an adult financial coach. My Money Hour sessions will be offered on-line multiple times throughout every month of the project, with rotating themes, to ensure that the 50-minute sessions are available different days of the week and times of the day.

Cash in a year; Cash now

Financial coaching BEHAVIORAL

Participants can opt-in to receive financial coaching sessions with a trained financial mentor. Meetings will occur monthly and typically include six one hour sessions. The mentor will be responsive to individual needs, but will touch on the following priority areas: building credit (credit repair, improving credit scores, credit products); savings (emergency savings plans, savings habits and strategies, understanding savings accounts); money management (creating budgets, understanding income vs expense, assessing spending, making better financial decisions); financial products (credit building products, auto loans, credit cards); and long-term goals (home ownership, investments).

Cash in a year; Cash now

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 24 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Between 18-24 years of age at enrollment
• Self-Identify as African American or Black
• Live in a low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) qualified census tract (QCT) in San Francisco or Oakland. Youth who are homeless or marginally housed in San Francisco and Oakland are also eligible; those who are marginally housed will need a letter from a youth agency that can affirm their marginal housing status.
• Must not be currently enrolled in another GI project
• Must have lived in the US for at least 3 years.
• Must provide informed consent

You may not qualify if:

• Participation in another GI program at the time of enrollment
• Lived in the United States for less than 3 years
• Have plans to permanently leave the Bay Area
• Being under the influence of alcohol or other substances at the time of enrollment.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, San Francisco: lead
• Oregon Health and Science University: collaborator
• MyPath: collaborator
• National Institutes of Health (NIH): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of California San Francisco

San Francisco, California, 94143, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Lippman SA, Libby MK, Nakphong MK, Arons A, Balanoff M, Mocello AR, Arnold EA, Shade SB, Qurashi F, Downing A, Moore A, Dow WH, Lightfoot MA. A guaranteed income intervention to improve the health and financial well-being of low-income black emerging adults: study protocol for the Black Economic Equity Movement randomized controlled crossover trial. Front Public Health. 2023 Nov 3;11:1271194. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1271194. eCollection 2023.

  PMID: 38026401 DERIVED

Related Links

• Project website

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Financial Stress

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior; Behavior; Stress, Psychological; Behavioral Symptoms

Study Officials

• Sheri A Lippman, PhD

  University of California, San Francisco

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Marguerita Lightfoot, PhD

  Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Margaret Libby, MSW

  MyPath

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Masking the study personnel to randomization group is not possible given that staff need to discuss the randomization with participants upon enrollment. Staff responsible for the financial capability services can not be masked to randomization arm as the participants are free to discuss their experience in the program, including whether and when they are receiving payments. The investigators and the senior biostatistician running the final model will be masked to treatment arm.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: The BEEM project is a randomized controlled crossover trial in which 300 low-income Black Emerging Adults (BEA) (aged 18-24) are allocated to receive a $500/month Guaranteed Income (GI) either during the first twelve months of follow-up (phase I) or to receive GI in the second 12 months of a total of 24 months follow-up (phase II). Throughout the study all participants will be offered enrollment in financial capability programs (i.e., peer learning circles and financial coaching) to bolster GI effectiveness.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 1, 2022
• First Posted: November 8, 2022
• Study Start: November 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: September 22, 2025
• Study Completion: September 22, 2025
• Last Updated: February 10, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)