Czech experiment with cash and social help for homeless people challenges stereotypes

Researchers in Czechia have carried out an unusual experiment to help people living on the streets, testing whether cash support or help from a social worker can improve their situation. The results suggest many were able to improve their situation, challenging common stereotypes about people experiencing homelessness, including assumptions about how they spend money. I discussed the results with Melanie Zajacová, who leads the research team behind the New Leaf Czechia project.

Melanie Zajacová|Photo: New Leaf Česko

“The findings are quite surprising because our data has broken down stereotypes about people in the situation of homelessness.

“What we see in the results is that we have no evidence that unconditional cash transfers lead to increased spending on addictive substances or alcohol. We also have no evidence in the data that cash transfers lead to a reduction in hours worked or earned income.

“Another stereotype—that people are on the street by choice—is challenged by the finding that most of the people spend their money on housing, food, or clothes.”

How exactly was the research carried out? I understand the participants were divided into several groups.

Photo: Drahomíra Bačkorová, Czech Radio

“At the beginning, we conducted a screening from which we obtained 420 participants. Then we applied selection criteria: Czech citizens living on the street for no more than two years, with no serious risk of alcohol or substance abuse and no severe mental illness.

“From this pool, we randomly selected 100 people, and this group was randomly divided into four groups. The first group received an unconditional cash transfer of CZK 100,000, with no conditions attached.

“The second group was assigned a dedicated social worker. The third group received both: the cash transfer and a social worker. The fourth group was the control group. People in this group did not receive any intervention from the project.”

So what role did the social worker play in the experiment, and which group had the best results?

Photo: New Leaf Česko

“It's quite a tricky question when it comes to identifying the best results, because in all of these groups there were some interesting findings.

“What surprised us most was the result in the group only with the social workers, who were available to participants unconditionally. Participants could choose how deeply they wanted to cooperate with the social worker.

“What we required from the social workers was that they follow a person-centred approach. We also created specific conditions: each social worker worked with only 20 participants, and there was no administrative burden connected with the project.

“The surprising finding was that only in the group where a social worker was provided did we see a significant improvement in the participants’ mental well-being.

“This was not because of therapy provided by the social worker, but rather because of their approach based on trust and the amount of time they were able to devote to participants.”

Will you continue this experiment in the future? What are the next steps you want to take?

Photo: Drahomíra Bačkorová, Czech Radio

“This project finished a few months ago, and we would like to continue based on the research and results from the group with social workers. Our plan is to repeat this approach in other organizations and regions in the Czech Republic.

“In addition, we have some international collaboration. Together with colleagues from Norway and South Korea, we are working on a project focused on trust-based social work and on implementing the impact of AI for social workers."

Out of those hundred participants, how many have managed to stay off the street until now?

“According to our findings, at the end of the project, 60% of the participants still had a place to live. Two-thirds of them were in the group that had access to a social worker.”

Based on these initial results, do you already see whether this kind of support could actually save the state money?

“We do not know that yet. At this moment we can only say that, from a human perspective, it is worth trusting homeless people. The answer from an economic standpoint should be available in autumn this year.”