Community-Based Roads to Prosperity Program

 

Empowering Bay Area Communities Through Roads to Prosperity

 

United Way Bay Area’s Community-Based Roads to Prosperity Program is a guaranteed basic income (GBI) pilot program with SparkPoint Oakland, SparkPoint Fremont, and SparkPoint at Chabot College.

 

Our goal is to co-design and implement a scalable, replicable GBI program around the SparkPoint financial empowerment model that will help GBI recipients make meaningful progress in their short-term and long-term financial journeys.

 

UWBA’s SparkPoint Centers provide a range of services through financial coaches that work one-on-one with clients to help individuals and families reach their financial and career goals while meeting basic food and housing needs, and working on long-term strategies that move families toward overall prosperity. We want to understand how offering these optional services can impact the wellbeing and behaviors of people who receive guaranteed basic income.

 

 

How It Works

• Financial Support: In August 2024, 100 families were randomly selected via lottery to receive $18,000 in unconditional cash transfers over the course of up to 18 months. They are allowed to use this extra money for anything, like helping cover basic needs, pay off debts, or save for the future.
• Optional Financial Coaching:Selected recipients also have the opportunity to work with a SparkPoint Financial/Career Coach who can help them set and achieve their financial goals. Whether they want to create a budget, improve their credit score, or find a better job, SparkPoint is there to support GBI recipients every step of the way.

 

 

Program Eligibility and Requirements

Alameda County residents over the age of 18 who received services from any of the following SparkPoint Centers prior to July 31, 2024 were eligible to apply for the random selection lottery, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. There was no income requirement for the program.

 

• SparkPoint Oakland at East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), Laney College, or West Oakland Job Resource Center
• SparkPoint Fremont at Fremont Family Resource Center or Union City Family Center
• SparkPoint at Chabot College

 

Once enrolled in the program, recipients do not have any additional requirements or obligations. We encourage recipients to take advantage of the optional financial coaching and participate in our additional paid research surveys.

 

 

Research and Evaluation

Research and evaluation is being conducted in-house by UWBA’s data & evaluation team, building off the longitudinal data collected across the SparkPoint program over the years. Modeled after local and national GBI studies, optional surveys are being administered in English, Spanish, and Chinese at the 0, 6, 12, and 18 months as well as 6 months post-program. The 100 GBI recipients and the additional 100 “control” study participants are offered a $100 Visa gift card in compensation per survey.

 

Our evaluation efforts will explore three main research questions:

• How does GBI affect study participants’ quality of life and financial outcomes?
• How does GBI impact the ways that study participants interact with SparkPoint services?
• How does engagement with financial coaching modify the impacts of GBI on study participants’ quality of life and financial outcomes?

 

Additional Questions?

Contact Us for more information about UWBA’s GBI pilot program below.