Three guaranteed income pilot programs carried out in Oregon show that providing families unconditional cash is an effective way to help them be more economically stable and meet their basic needs.[1] This fact sheet examines a program that provided a basic income to Black mothers in Multnomah County, a direct cash transfer pilot for houseless youth across three Oregon counties, and a guaranteed income program for recently homeless families in Southeast Portland. It is not intended to be an evaluation of these programs, but rather to document their impacts and show what is possible when families struggling to get by are given support without conditions, such as requiring parents to work a certain numbers of hours per week to qualify for assistance.

These pilot programs share the basic premise of helping families make ends meet by regularly delivering cash without conditions. Their effectiveness offers a blueprint for a better safety net. The “safety net” is a way of describing public programs designed to keep families facing difficult financial times from going without basic needs. Programs such as SNAP – which provides food assistance to families with low incomes, Medicaid – which helps families with low incomes access health care, or the Earned Income Tax Credit – which boosts the after-tax incomes of families working for low wages are examples of safety net programs. These programs often require families to jump through hoops in order to qualify, restrict how benefits can be used, and are stigmatized as handouts to an “undeserving” poor.[2] Guaranteed income programs instead deliver regular assistance, without conditions or restrictions on how families can spend their money.

The Multnomah Mother’s Trust

The Multnomah Mother’s Trust (MMT) was a basic income pilot program for Black mothers housed within the Multnomah County Idea Lab (MIL). Between 2021 and 2023, the program provided nearly 100 mothers with unconditional $500 monthly payments. An evaluation of the program found positive impacts on participants’ overall economic well-being and housing outcomes.[3]

Researchers found “consistent economic improvement,” for the members of the program.[4] Income and assets gradually increased during people’s time in the program. Moreover, “members in deep debt at the beginning of the program” gradually reduced their debt load, “reaching near zero by the end of the program.”[5] Importantly, these improvements were “maintained even in the face of inflation and rent increases.”[6]

The participants also reported improved housing outcomes. As a whole, the share of participants at high risk of eviction decreased by more than half.[7] In fact, researchers found the mothers enrolled in the program were more likely to move as the program went on, often into more stable housing situations, which resulted from their increased financial security.[8]

Data collected from Multnomah Mothers’ Trust show how cash can be an effective tool to help families who are struggling to afford the basics fill in the gaps. Still, participants collectively identified barriers to their economic well-being – inadequate wages, the high cost of childcare, and rising cost of living to name a few – that require systemic policy responses beyond the cash itself.[9]

Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program’s Direct Cash Transfer Plus

In 2023, the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) launched its Direct Cash Transfer Plus (DCT+) pilot within its Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program. The pilot sought to address the specific needs of homelessness experienced by young adults – aged 18 to 24 – who are often harder to serve using existing programs. Indeed, as an evaluation of the DCT+ pilot notes, “Supportive services for young people experiencing homelessness are often caught between a variety of systems, including the adult homelessness system, child welfare system, juvenile justice system, and public education system. This system fragmentation results in siloed support structures that operate with little coordination.”[10]

DCT+ provided 120 youth across three Oregon counties with $1,000 per month for 24 months, as well as optional supports including financial empowerment programming, housing navigation, and case management.[11] The benefits of the program were broad, with participants reporting improved housing outcomes, improved economic security, and improved mental health and well-being.

DCT+’s improved housing outcomes are perhaps the most notable. In order to qualify for the program, a young person needed to be homeless or unstably housed. During the exit survey, 94 percent of youth surveyed reported being housed.[12] In fact, three-quarters of youth in the DCT+ no longer identified as homeless within months of entering the program. More than three in four surveyed youth were living in their own place at the time of their exit, an increase of 40 percent over the course of the program. Importantly, more than half of surveyed participants said they supported a child or someone else in their household, meaning these improved housing outcomes spanned beyond the youth receiving cash themselves.[13]

Youth receiving cash through DCT+ also reported improved economic security. Unlike other safety net programs, direct cash allows people to spend their money unconditionally. Several participants noted this enabled them to prioritize their basic needs without having to miss paying their housing payments. “Because I can use the DCT money for smaller bills such as gas/electric, Wi-Fi, phone bill, [and] personal hygiene [I can] focus on rent without those smaller things taking from money for rent,” said one participant.[14]

Survey evidence also suggests youth strategically used their time in the program to invest in their futures. The most common major purchases among participants were vehicles (essential for transportation to school or work), cell phones (necessary to apply for work, housing, etc.), and furniture.[15]

The DCT+ program decreased the frequency of survival related stressors among participating youth. This suggests that direct cash transfers are likely to have positive impacts on the mental health and well-being of youth.[16] Researchers also noted themes of improved well-being resulting from improved financial security. As one youth participant noted, “DCT gave me the chance to [breathe], and think clearly in order to heal and transform into the person I am today, and put me on a path to become the person I aspire to be.”[17]

Path Home’s Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) Monthly Cohort

Path Home is a nonprofit organization providing housing placement and other supports to families experiencing homelessness in Southeast Portland. In April of 2024, Path Home launched its Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) program, which provides $575 per month for two years to 15 families.[18]

An evaluation of the BIG program after 12 months found a wide range of positive economic outcomes. Housing stability improved for many families, particularly when supported by case management services.[19] Many families were able to begin saving, and in some cases they were able to eliminate their outstanding debt.[20]

However, evaluators note that progress was uneven, with some families continuing to face economic instability.[21] As raised by participants in the MMT and DCT+ programs, many of the barriers faced by families struggling to get by would require changes in public policy. For example, stronger public investments in affordable housing construction and rent assistance would alleviate the rising costs of housing noted by participants across these pilots. Nonetheless, direct cash as an intervention has proven to be an important factor to mitigate short-term economic insecurity.

The BIG evaluation raises other important considerations around the emotional well-being of participants. Families in the BIG cohort reported reduced stress relating to their finances, and improved emotional well-being. Moreover, participants reported spending more time with their families and friends, strengthening social connection for many in the program.[22] While these outcomes were not universal, it is worth noting the breadth of impacts resulting from an additional $575 per month.

Guaranteed Income Offers a Vision for the Future of the Safety Net

Unfortunately, at the federal level, families are being forced to jump through more hoops to prove they are deserving of help. H.R. 1 – the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” – expands work requirements for families to access food assistance and health care, or removes eligibility for some communities altogether.[23] These new layers of red tape and bureaucracy are not an attempt to make these programs work better for the families who rely on them. Instead, these changes are designed to reduce the number of families who receive support by creating barriers to that help. Indeed, expanded work requirements for food assistance and health care are a primary way H.R. 1 attempts to save money to offset some of the cost of trillions in tax cuts mainly going to the rich.[24]

Rather than create barriers for families in need of help, Oregon should take a different approach to building its safety net. As the three pilot programs described above show, unrestricted, unconditional, and regular cash for families who need it most is an effective tool for helping Oregonians struggling to afford the basics. These core tenets of guaranteed income programs offer a framework for the future of our broader safety net.

—

[1] Oregon Center for Public Policy, Guaranteed Income: What the Research Tells Us.

[2] For more on the safety net, its impacts, and who it serves, see Urban Institute, State of the Safety Net: Program Data.

[3] Ebonee Bell, Mary Li, and Steve Van Eck, Interim Report: Findings from the Multnomah Mothers’ Trust program, Multnomah Idea Lab.

[4] Ibid, p. 3.

[5] Ibid, p. 27.

[6] Ibid, p. 3.

[7] Ibid, p. 28.

[8] Ibid, p. 29.

[9] Ibid, p. 17-18.

[10] Petering, R., Onasch-Vera, L., Ait-Haddou, F., Willmot-McMahon, T., Petery, L. and Hihi, L., Direct Cash Transfers for Youth Experiencing Homelessness Observations from the State of Oregon’s Two Year Pilot Program, Young People to the Front, (2025).

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid, p. 14.

[13] Ibid, p. 26.

[14] Ibid, p. 27.

[15] Ibid, p. 21.

[16] Ibid, p. 23.

[17] Ibid, p. 28.

[18] Samuel Freni Rothschild, Combined Report: 3-Month, 6-Month, and 12-Month Follow-Up Survey Summary, Path Home.

[19] Ibid, p. 1-2.

[20] Ibid, p. 2.

[21] Ibid, p. 4.

[22] Ibid, p. 3-4.

[23] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Taking Away People’s Health Coverage and Food Assistance Will Increase Hardship, Not Employment.

[24] Alejandro Queral, Congressional budget plan harms hardworking Oregonians to pay for tax cuts for the rich, Oregon Center for Public Policy.