The Department of Transitional Assistance has partnered with UpTogether in a research study, Trust and Invest Collaborative (TIC). TIC will assess the role of financial and social capital in helping to lift families out of poverty. The study will last two years. DTA will assist with outreach and provide data.
To participate in TIC, individuals must:
be 18 years or older,
live in Boston or Cambridge,
have at least one dependent child,
speak English or Spanish,
not receive cash investment from UpTogether (prior Family Independence Initiative) before March 2020
have a household income level under 200% of the federal poverty level, and
have reliable access to the internet.
Only one family per street address will be accepted into the study. DTA clients will make up approximately 50% of the participants.
DTA will recruit participants from the Boston, Quincy and Chelsea catchment areas who are residents of Boston or Cambridge to join the study. If you receive a phone call with questions about TIC you can direct the client to bit.ly/TIC-Study. Clients can apply to the study with this link. Other recruitment efforts will be happening throughout the Boston and Cambridge communities.
Important |
Active eligible TAFDC DTA clients who are residents of Boston or Cambridge may receive a text messages from the Department to recruit participants for TIC. The text messages will be sent in English and Spanish. Those with HLS or who have affirmatively opted-out of text messaging from DTA are excluded. Text messages are sent regardless of the phone Type listed on BEACON. If the client was contacted about participating in the study, the Communications page will be updated with the text message language. If you speak with a client who is concerned about whether the text message is a scam, please refer to their Electronic Case Folder (ECF) to confirm that it was a valid message sent from DTA and encourage the client to apply for the study if they are interested. |
Clients who participate in the study will:
commit to being in the study for 18 months,
participate in regular surveys,
allow DTA to share benefit information and employment outcomes with TIC, and
receive a minimum of $760 in payments and financial incentives.
Important |
Payments received from participation in TIC are non-countable unearned income for SNAP, EAEDC and TAFDC. |