Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38685123›Full record

ArticleTrials2024

Miracle friends and miracle money in California: a mixed-methods experiment of social support and guaranteed income for people experiencing homelessness.

Benjamin F Henwood, Bo-Kyung Elizabeth Kim, Amy Stein, Gisele Corletto, Himal Suthar, Kevin F Adler, Madeline Mazzocchi, Julia Ip, Deborah K Padgett

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readClinical Trial Protocol
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Trials, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05408884 (Miracle Friends and Miracle Money Evaluation), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
4.2field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05408884 naunknown statusnot on this map

Miracle Friends and Miracle Money Evaluation

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of Southern CaliforniaRan2022 to 2024Enrolled759ConditionsHomelessnessArmsSocial Support, Basic income
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Sleep Health among Community-Recruited Opioid-Using People Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles, CA and Denver, CO.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2024
    Article
  4. Housing Ends Homelessness.American journal of public health · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Benjamin F HenwoodSuzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669 W. 34th Street, Montgomery Ross Fisher Building, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA. bhenwood@usc.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8346-3569
Bo-Kyung Elizabeth KimSuzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669 W. 34th Street, Montgomery Ross Fisher Building, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Amy SteinSuzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669 W. 34th Street, Montgomery Ross Fisher Building, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Gisele CorlettoSuzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669 W. 34th Street, Montgomery Ross Fisher Building, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Himal SutharDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Kevin F AdlerMiracle Messages, San Francisco, USA.
Madeline MazzocchiMiracle Messages, San Francisco, USA.
Julia IpSuzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669 W. 34th Street, Montgomery Ross Fisher Building, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Deborah K PadgettSilver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, USA.
University of Southern California · USNew York University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis paper describes the protocols for a randomized controlled trial using a parallel-group trial design that includes an intervention designed to address social isolation and loneliness among people experiencing homelessness known as Miracle Friends and an intervention that combines Miracles Friends with an economic poverty-reduction intervention known as Miracle Money. Miracle Friends pairs an unhoused person with a volunteer "phone buddy." Miracle Money provides guaranteed basic income of $750 per month for 1 year to Miracle Friends participants. The study will examine whether either intervention reduces social isolation or homelessness compared to a waitlist control group.

methodsUnhoused individuals who expressed interest in the Miracle Friends program were randomized to either receive the intervention or be placed on a waitlist for Miracle Friends. Among those randomized to receive the Miracle Friends intervention, randomization also determined whether they would be offered Miracle Money. The possibility of receiving basic income was only disclosed to study participants if they were randomly selected and participated in the Miracle Friends program. All study participants, regardless of assignment, were surveyed every 3 months for 15 months.

resultsOf 760 unhoused individuals enrolled in the study, 256 were randomized to receive Miracle Friends, 267 were randomized to receive Miracle Money, and 237 were randomized to the waitlist control group. In the two intervention groups, 360 of 523 unhoused individuals were initially matched to a phone buddy. Of the 191 study participants in the Miracle Money group who had been initially matched to a volunteer phone buddy, 103 were deemed to be participating in the program and began receiving monthly income. DISCUSSION: This randomized controlled trial will determine whether innovative interventions involving volunteer phone support and basic income reduce social isolation and improve housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness. Although we enrolled unhoused individuals who initially expressed interest in the Miracle Friends program, the study team could not reach approximately 30% of individuals referred to the study. This may reflect the general lack of stability in the lives of people who are unhoused or limitations in the appeal of such a program to some portion of the unhoused population.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05408884 (first submitted on May 26, 2022).

Indexed as

Ill-Housed PersonsIncomeLonelinessSocial IsolationSocial SupportAdultCaliforniaFemaleFriendsHumansMaleMiddle AgedPovertyRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTime FactorsVolunteersBasic incomeCash transfersCommunity integrationGuaranteed incomeHomelessnessIsolationLonelinessRandomized controlled trialRelational povertySocial support

Identifiers

PMID38685123
PMCPMC11059706
OpenAlexW4396219598

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.