Financial Health

The Recovery Finance Project addresses the financial well-being of people with mental health challenges, who often face enormous financial challenges such as debt, damaged credit, and exclusion from financial services. Funded by the NIMHD and working with community partners across the New Haven region, including the City of New Haven, Winning Ways and the CT Association for Human Services, we implemented an intervention targeting community level determinants of financial well-being for this population and tested outcomes.

The intervention included three components:

1. One-on-one financial coaching and peer support for people who have been incarcerated and have mental health challenges. A randomized control trial compared financial coaching alone with financial coaching plus peer support.

2. Systems level change through training for service providers working with the target population, and for banks and credit unions to increase knowledge of this population’s needs and reduce discrimination.

3. Policy change through supporting advocacy efforts.

• Our community report describing the project.
• Results from our ‘Financial Intercept Mapping’ workshop in 2023.

We are currently (early 2026) analyzing the qualitative data and expect to have early results to share by mid-year. Quantitative data collection is ongoing.

Our current banking system fails too many people, due to poverty, stigma and a lack of financial services that actually work for them. When people don’t have banking services that work for them, they often rely on costly, often predatory, non-bank services. Banking for All, funded by CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) explores the financial lives of people with mental illness, addiction and people who are homeless with the goal of advocating for an inclusive banking system that supports the well-being of all. Publications associated with this work are below:

• Scholars Strategy Network brief regarding changes needed in banking to accommodate vulnerable populations
• White paper recommending steps credit unions can take to accommodate vulnerable populations
• Banking for All report recommending steps banks can take to accommodate supported financial decision making

Growing Futures is a community-engaged research initiative led by the Program for Recovery and Community Health at the Yale School of Medicine. Our current research, funded by The Connecticut Project, examines the social, economic, and health impacts of Connecticut’s Baby Bonds, a groundbreaking policy spearheaded by the states Office of the Treasurer, that invests public funds in every child born after July 1, 2023, whose birth was covered by CT Medicaid (HUSKY). Our multidisciplinary, cross-institution research team includes Dr. Annie Harper, Dr. Tiffany N. Younger, Dr. Eric Sun, Ethelia Holt and Kristine Irizzary (Yale), Dr. Victor Roy (University of Pennsylvania), Dr. Naomi Zewde (UCLA), and David Radcliffe and Dr. Darrick Hamilton (New School). The research unites researchers, policymakers, and community partners to examine how guaranteed capital at birth can reduce economic and health inequities, foster intergenerational wealth, and promote overall well-being.

• Evaluate economic and health outcomes associated with Connecticut’s Baby Bonds program.
• Understand family experiences with wealth-building and financial opportunity through qualitative interviews.
• Examine the relationship between wealth and health, identifying pathways that link economic security to mental and physical well-being.
• Inform policy and practice by translating findings into actionable recommendations for equitable wealth-building initiatives nationwide.

• Grounded in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) principles, the Connecticut Baby Bonds Research Study centers the voices of Connecticut families. A Community Advisory Board (CAB) composed of local leaders and a Parent Advisory Board composed of eligible parents participating in the study, guide each phase of the research process. We use qualitative methods, including individual interviews and focus groups with both eligible and ineligible families, to understand their perspectives on CT Baby Bonds.

• Wealth as a social driver of health
• Intergenerational economic opportunity
• Community voice in policy research
• Equitable policy implementation

To date, we have spoken with families across the state, ensuring that we hear a diverse range of perspectives. We have focused our attention on areas where there are particularly high numbers of Medicaid-eligible families but have also made sure to interview people from areas with lower Medicaid coverage.

Encamp-CT is a mixed method, cross-disciplinary research collaboration between Yale-PRCH and the Yale Department of Emergency Medicine that explores the associations between different types of homeless shelter, use of healthcare services, and mental health.

The Tenant Energy Advocacy (TEA) project focuses on energy equity for low-income tenants. People with low incomes often struggle to pay their energy bills. Often, this is because their homes are not energy efficient; landlords who don’t pay bills typically don’t invest in needed upgrades. Climate change, housing and energy justice intersect.

Initially funded by the Yale Planetary Solutions Project, the TEA project collaborates with partners across Connecticut and beyond to better understand low-income tenants’ experiences with energy costs, energy efficiency and the potential for collective action around energy issues. Our research is community based, working with impacted communities on research design, data analysis, and policy advocacy through a CAB, public community feedback meetings and workshops, and direct engagement with utility regulators and policy makers.

Community Feedback session June 2023

Community Conversation with Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) Chairman Marissa Paslick Gillett, March 2024.

• Research report – Energy Efficiency in Low-income Rental Properties: Barriers and Opportunities for Engaging Tenants in Collective Action, February 2024
• Executive Summary – Energy Efficiency in Low-income Rental Properties: Barriers and Opportunities for Engaging Tenants in Collective Action, February 2024

• What are the barriers to energy efficiency programs for tenants in New Haven, CT? – July 2023
• Opportunities to improve energy assistance programs – June 2023
• Tenant and activist perspectives on energy justice and collective action (English and Spanish) – June 2023
• Tenant experiences with energy efficiency and collective action – March 2023

• https://ctmirror.org/2023/05/31/ct-energy-efficiency-housing-justice-climate-change/

Far too many people are in debt that they cannot afford – whether it’s potential wealth building debt such as mortgages, student loans and car loans they can’t afford, short-term debt taken to fill the gap between income and expenses, or falling behind on bills. Our Community Based Participatory research explores the experiences of debt and how it links to health outcomes.