What Does Cash Have to Do with It? Learning from the Experiences of Families Affected by Child Welfare who Receive a Time-limited Unconditional Cash Transfer

Abstract

This paper reflects the narratives of families receiving a monthly unconditional cash transfer in addition to targeted child protection services. Using a participatory monitoring and evaluation method, the program recorded how the participating families defined domains of child and family well-being. After 15 months, the families reported experiencing lower stress, providing more nutritious meals, and spending more time with children, and gave specific examples of using what they had learned in the program about more effective parenting.