Basic Information
Country
United States
Region
Massachusetts
Governing level
Municipal
Funding
Budget (local currency)
US$6.00 million
Budget (USD 2022)
$6.60 million
Budget currency
USD
Funding type
Public and Private
Additional funding source
External public
Funding description
Chelsea Eats is funded by the City's general fund, Commonwealth and Massachusetts Cares Act funds, and philanthropic contributions from various organisations, such as the Shah Family Foundation and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.
Budget description
This amount covered the cash assistance card transfers, namely 2213 participants x 9 months x 400 USD/month for most households, and one- and two-person households receiving 200 and 300 USD/month respectively. Other administrative and operational services from the Mayor's office, the nonprofit partners or the cost for the selected independent research partner, the Harvard Kennedy School’s Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston Working Paper, are not included in this budget.
Timeline
Project start date
07/01/2020
Project start year
2020
Final project release date
12/01/2022
Length of project (days)
883
Project length description
The City announced the Chelsea Eats program on July 29, 2020 and invited residents to enroll in the lottery to receive Visa cash cards. Multilingual information about the cards was distributed to individuals using the city-run food distribution sites. Additionally, information and applications were disseminated to community based organisations, food pantries, faith groups, health care organisations, and low- and moderate-income housing complexes. Direct outreach to residents by city staff occurred in multiple locations, including food pantry lines, COVID-19 testing lines, and social service agencies. Applications were accepted between July 27, 2020 and August 17, 2020. The lottery publicly occured on September 17, 2020. 2074 households were chosen to receive the cash assistance on a Visa card and received 400 USD/month for most households, and one- and two-person households receiving 200 and 300 USD/month respectively, in the period of 9 months. A total of $6 was invested in the community in the form of cash assistance card transfers. The programme took place from November 2020 until August 2021.
Experiment start date
11/25/2020
Experiment start year
2020
Experiment end date
08/02/2021
Experiment end year
2021
Number of start dates
1
Length of experiment (days)
250
Participants
Number of treatment groups
1
Sample size (intervention)
2213
Sample notes
The study sample included 2213 participants in the treatment group, exhibiting comparable demographic characteristics to the control group. The average age of participants was below 65 years old (94.2%) and 5.8% are seniors, for the treatment group, with 78.3% of households including at least one child and 50.3% of households having more than one child. The majority were households with more than 2 members (69.8%). Women predominated, constituting 80.6% of participants. Ethnically and according to racial composition, the majority were Latino (90.1%), which is greater than the 67% estimated by the Census Bureau for the city as a whole, followed by White participants (9%).
Unit of analysis
Individuals
Control group?
Yes
Control group sample size
1402
Control group description
The study sample included 1402 participants in the control group, exhibiting comparable demographic characteristics to the control group. The average age of participants was below 65 years old for the control group, with households including at least one child predominantly. Women predominated, ethnically and according to racial composition, the majority were Latino.
Target group description
Largest foreign-born population share, heavily Latino population concentrated in sectors of the economy that were shut down when the pandemic hit. Chelsea residents are also disproportionately likely to be front-line service workers exposed to infection risk. The large number of undocumented residents are ineligible for unemployment insurance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and stimulus checks. In April 2020, 32% of Chelsea residents who were tested at a mobile site had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, the highest seroprevalence rate observed in the U.S. ad of that date. As of December 2020, Chelsea had the higherst rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Massachussets and in June 2020, its unemployment rate reached 24.8%.
Gender target
No
Income target
No
Age target (outside working age)
Yes
Family target
Yes
Labour market status target
No
Disability target
Yes
Occupation target
No
Industry target
No
Design and Implementation
Saturation
Dispersed
Legal powers
26% of the respondents identified as beneficiaries of the health insurance from the Massachusetts health plan for undocumented residents (MassHealth Limited) and 47% as beneficiaries of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), 38% of SNAP cases are children only cases, 67% have received free groceries or a free meal in the past 7 days.
Evaluation
External
Conditionality
Only unconditional treatments
Taper rates
No tapers
Alternative interventions
None