By Michelle Blouin, Communications Associate, Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School
How does a nonprofit organization build a case for their mission, especially if the narrative accompanying that mission typically includes a cynical response? For Mothers Outreach Network (MON), a Washington DC-based racial justice and anti-poverty organization, their response was to provide evidence. Results, not promises, would quiet the naysayers and support their mission of providing Black indigent mothers with guaranteed income to support their children and reduce child welfare agency involvement. And to build the evidence they needed, MON partnered with the Access to Justice Lab in a research study.
Last week, our Proof Over Precedent blog and podcast addressed how the A2J Lab conducted the “Mother Up” pre-pilot study, from enrollment to preliminary results, to see if the study could produce results that may make effective changes for those it impacts. This week, we present the same “Mother Up” pre-pilot study from the perspective of MON to discuss the original vision for the study and reaction to the early results.
Melody Webb founded MON and now serves as Executive Director. Her background as a family defense and economic justice lawyer in Washington DC gave her a front-row seat to child investigations that, as Webb saw it, often pointed to poverty rather than neglect as the root cause. These observations formed the mission of MON: “to be a place where legal, advocacy, economic support, and mother-led organizing come together so that families can stay together and with economic security.”
MON took steps toward implementing its guaranteed income program on its own when it started its Phase I trial run without research involvement. The small-scale program—five mothers receiving income over the course of three years—helped MON work through the operations of the program including conducting outreach for identifying mothers for the program and finding cash distribution methods in the form of reloadable debit cards.
Move Toward Evidence-Based Policy
Phase II marked the start of MON’s partnership with the Access to Justice Lab and its goal of bringing evidence into its work. “We really wanted to put into practice what we thought is pretty evident, and that is giving moms cash and demonstrating the impact it can have on their circumstances for purposes of informing policy,” Webb said in the podcast episode.
That policy, she noted, should include a separation between those charged with policing families and those supporting families. Currently, the same agency that monitors a family’s compliance with court orders and is responsible for removing children from households is also the same agency that provides funding and parenting classes to families. Webb pointed out mothers’ lack of trust in a largely punitive system. So, MON’s goal is to shrink the punitive system and grow the supportive system—to make clearer paths for mothers to obtain needed cash to address issues that may otherwise point to neglect and harm to children. These issues may include missing doctor appointments, meetings, visits, or work due to an inability to pay for childcare or bus fare. When cash is provided, these problems of neglect would presumably no longer be problems at all.
Phase II: Success or Failure?
The now-completed Phase II pre-pilot study enrolled 19 active participants in a trial that randomized Black mothers in Washington DC to either (1) a direct cash transfer group receiving $500 per month for a year or (2) a compensated research group who received only compensation for study participation. “I wanted to see that we could run the model ethically and practically, and that the early data would show cash and support helping families move out of crisis instead of deeper into the system,” Webb said.
While MON hoped the financial boost would help Black mothers feel more support—“You really trust me to decide what my family needs most?” one participant asked—they also found their advocacy services filled a much-needed void as well. Mothers took advantage of their legal services, the speaking opportunities to advocate for the program, and the camaraderie with other mothers. Webb added that mothers typically participated reluctantly in agency-required parenting classes for certain foster care situations due to distrust in the overseeing agency; with MON programs, the mothers don’t fear mandatory reporting and are more likely to share their parenting vulnerabilities.
Preliminary results from the Phase II study documented in the report did, in fact, demonstrate a link between additional funds and lower Child and Family Services Agency involvement. “I’m not completely surprised,” Webb said of the findings. “But I was pleasantly surprised by how well it captured what I’ve seen.” In noting some of the more poignant findings, she pointed to many participants’ internalized shame for circumstances that the study attributed to a lack of finances.
Next Steps
MON and the Access to Justice Lab have begun enrollment for its Phase III study, a larger program currently recruiting 30 participants. Unlike the Phase II pre-pilot, participants in the Phase III direct cash transfer group will receive $500/month compensation over three years, rather than just one year, in addition to services provided by MON including advocacy, empowerment work, and legal services that can extend to non-child welfare-specific subjects like housing and benefits. Eligibility for participants in Phase III includes a requirement that a child has been removed from the home within the past year.
MON’s broader goal to affect policy change includes presenting the Phase II report to local and state policymakers, spreading word of the findings, presenting information through events, and advocating for additional financial support for mothers through child tax credit programs.
If you are an eligible DC mother interested in participating in the Phase III study—or know someone who is—you may submit an application.
If you’re interested in more on this topic, listen to our Proof Over Precedent podcast episode.