For WTNH, New Haven’s local ABC affiliate, Jayne Chacko reports on a new pilot initiative of the Yale New Haven Hospital violence intervention program which provides unconditional one-time cash stipends to “shooting victims or families who lost someone to violence.”
The pilot project seeks to “demonstrate the benefits of direct cash assistance for victims of interpersonal violence” and “reduce violence” (for example, by allowing for relocation costs away from a dangerous situation). As Chacko explains, the program provides murder victim family members with “a one-time payment of $1,000 [via prepaid Mastercard]” while “victims of violence are eligible for two payments of $500 each.”
In a fact-sheet, Yale New Haven Hospital’s partner in administering the cash program explains that this “emergency cash” will “help patients meet urgent needs like purchasing a bus or train ticket to get to the next loved one or to a safe place, paying for food, bandages or a prescription co-pay due to lost wages while hospitalized.” Indeed, as the local ABC affiliate noted, “some [of the victims and victim family members] who have received the money have used it for food, hospital bills or rent.”
Last year, Safer Cities reported results from a national poll showing that nearly two-thirds of voters—65%—believe that “providing a guaranteed income” in order to create more “economic stability for families” is an “effective” policy for “making communities safer.” Put us on the record betting that “cash transfer” programs like the Yale hospital initiative described above are even more popular with voters because the beneficiaries of the stipend are victims of violent crime. We’ll test out this hypothesis in future survey research. Stay tuned.