Seedco, a national nonprofit, has been selected by the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City to implement the new Family Rewards Program in Memphis, Tenn., and the Bronx, N.Y.
Family Rewards is a conditional cash transfer program that seeks to help low-income families reach their full potential and break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Unlike conventional approaches to poverty reduction, Family Rewards offers cash assistance to reduce immediate hardship and poverty, but conditions the payments on families’ education, preventive health, and workforce activities. Family Rewards builds on the lessons learned from an earlier conditional cash transfer pilot that Seedco operated in collaboration with CEO, and similar programs in more than 20 countries worldwide.
Family Rewards is one of five CEO programs to be implemented in New York and cities across the country with the support of the Social Innovation Fund, a new public-private partnership administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service that addresses major challenges confronting communities by growing high-impact nonprofit organizations delivering proven solutions. By working together, the partner cities hope to build a national body of evidence in support of effective programs.
“For families living paycheck to paycheck, Family Rewards provides an opportunity to earn extra resources and make an investment in their future,” said Seedco President and CEO Barbara Dwyer Gunn. “Seedco is honored to be chosen as the provider for this Social Innovation Fund program. We look forward to building on our experience developing and managing large-scale social programs to make Family Rewards a success.”
“We are pleased to work with Seedco and their partners on Family Rewards,” said Veronica M. White, Executive Director of the NYC Center for Economic Opportunity. “By working together on this initiative, we will support families’ efforts to build human capital and demonstrate the potential of conditional cash transfers to reduce poverty.”
Seedco will implement Family Rewards in low-income neighborhoods in Memphis and the Bronx where residents often face unemployment, foreclosures, crime, and chronic health issues, and new approaches to poverty reduction are needed. In Memphis, Seedco will partner with Porter-Leath and Urban Strategies Memphis HOPE to implement Family Rewards. In the Bronx, Seedco will partner with BronxWorks and Children’s Aid Society. Approximately 600 families in each city will participate, for a total of 1,200 families. The three-year program will begin enrolling participants in August 2011.
The national education and social policy research group MDRC, which helped design the program, is leading a full-scale, random assignment evaluation of Family Rewards.
Additional support for the Social Innovation Fund and Family Rewards programs is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Open Society Foundations, and the City of Memphis.
Building on Past Experience
Family Rewards will build on lessons learned during a three-year demonstration project, Opportunity NYC- Family Rewards. Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards was launched by CEO in 2007 as an experimental, privately funded program, and was the first conditional cash transfer initiative in the United States. Seedco was a partner in the design of the Opportunity NYC- Family Rewards program and led its implementation with the assistance of six community-based organizations.
A preliminary evaluation of Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards found that nearly all participating families earned rewards during the first two years, with payments averaging $3,000 per year. Initial findings show that the program improved a number of health and education outcomes, especially for high school students. The program also reduced poverty and hardship, making it easier for participants to make ends meet and pay for basic necessities, including food and utilities.
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About Seedco: Seedco is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1987 that advances economic opportunity for people, businesses, and communities in need. Seedco designs and implements innovative programs and services around workforce development, work and family supports, and community finance and small business services. Learn more at www.seedco.org.
