Recovery Action Fund for Tomorrow (RAFT) Report

The COVID-19 pandemic brought disruptions and hardships to residents across San Diego County. Many families, older adults, and people at risk of homelessness struggled to pay rent, buy food, or cover other basic needs. In response, on November 15, 2022 the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to launch the Recovery Action Fund for Tomorrow (RAFT) to provide $4,000 no-strings-attached cash payments to 2,243 low-income households most impacted by the pandemic. The program’s goal was to provide economic support to strengthen well-being and reduce reliance on public benefits and homeless services.

In 2023, RAFT was developed and implemented by the County’s Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), through its Department of Self-Sufficiency Services (S-SS) and the community organization Jewish Family Service of San Diego.

The County Office of Evaluation, Performance, and Analytics (OEPA) and Georgetown University’s Better Government Lab used a randomized evaluation to measure the impact of the program participants’ well-being and use of support services, including homelessness services. The evaluation also explored how participants used the funds.

Key Findings:

Findings suggest that, while the program may have provided short-term financial relief to participants, it did not produce measurable changes in participant well-being, housing service utilization, or reliance on benefits.

  • RAFT did not improve participants’ perceptions of their well-being about six or twelve months after fund disbursement.
  • RAFT did not decrease participants’ reliance on homeless services or public benefits during the six months after the one-time payment.
  • The one-time payment may have offered short-term financial relief, increasing short-term ability to cover basic expenses. Participants typically reported using the money for groceries, utilities, housing, and debt repayment.

The full report and technical appendices are available below.

Reports:

Executive Summary: Summary of the program, key findings, and policy recommendations.

Evaluation Report: Full evaluation results and recommendations.

Technical Appendices: Technical details on the program design and implementation, evaluation design, methodology, and detailed analysis results.

Self-Sufficiency Services' Reaction Statement: Self-Sufficiency Services’ written response to the evaluation report, acknowledging key findings, clarifying any areas of concern or disagreement, and outlining next steps or planned actions.

 

Contact: Courtney Hall (Courtney.Hall@sdcounty.ca.gov), Principal Data and Research Analyst, County of San Diego Office of Evaluation, Performance, and Analytics