Yale New Haven Hospital received a $75,000 grant from the nonprofit 4-CT in 2023 to launch the cash-assistance program, according to the Connecticut Mirror report. The grant allowed the hospital to offer two payments of $500 each to people who have been shot, stabbed, severely assaulted or trafficked, including those who had experienced intimate partner violence. Within the past year, the hospital reduced the payment to a single installment of $500.
Dr. Lucy Paredes, a research fellow at Yale and author of the paper, told the Connecticut Mirror that she interviewed between 15 and 20 recipients of cash assistance between June 2023 and July 2024. Paredes said the takeaways from the two papers were similar: the payments profoundly help people meet urgent needs, strengthen their connections with community organizations, and allow them to take greater charge over their futures.
Researchers at Yale are preparing to publish two papers examining the outcomes of the cash-assistance program, which covers victims of community violence and intimate partner violence in and around New Haven.