Two different governments in the same region – Cook County and the city of Chicago – launched their own guaranteed income pilots using American Rescue Plan Act funds. The University of Chicago’s Inclusive Economy Lab (IEL) signed on to evaluate both studies, and GiveDirectly administered both programs. This was a unique chance to learn from two of the nation’s largest Guaranteed Income pilots at both the county and city level.
Between 2018 and 2024, Chicago launched one of the country’s most ambitious guaranteed income efforts, The Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot (CRCP), which delivered $500/month to 5,000 residents for 12 months. GiveDirectly built the application, verified and enrolled households, and delivered the monthly payments. The City of Chicago funded the program through ARPA, and the University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab led the program’s evaluation. (Urban Labs)
Application volume far exceeded expectations. Some reports cited approximately 176,000 applications for 5,000 slots. (Urban Labs, WBEZ)
Implementation Lessons
GiveDirectly managed day-to-day operations and payment delivery for Chicago’s GI pilot, administering payments and enrollment, with YWCA as a lead community partner. The University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab led the independent evaluation.
Chicago heavily resourced the outreach phase – funded ahead of launch – and sought to ensure residents who might be typically missed could learn about the program and know how to apply. (WBEZ)
Counties don’t need to build every capacity in-house. Contract a program administrator like GiveDirectly for enrollment, payments, and customer service; pair with an external evaluator like the Inclusive Economy Lab to evaluate impact; set clear quality and delivery targets up front.
Publicize the Program as Widely as Possible
To ensure as many eligible households as possible learn about the program and apply, a diverse array of channels were intentionally selected to publicize the program – CBO referrals reach offline, older, or under-banked residents, while digital channels skew younger and more mobile.
Plan for High Application Volumes
CRCP applications were highest at launch, plateaued, and then spiked again before the deadline. To account for fluctuations, program administrators should create flexible staffing models, staff customer service desks, and offer accessible in-person application assistance. The Chicago program received about 35 applications for every available spot, so careful planning and automation are essential.
Rural translation: Work with local populations to identify known locations to offer in-person assistance, for example, libraries, fire stations, houses of faith, and schools. Lower broadband coverage in rural areas makes in-person application options even more critical.
Assistance for Vulnerable Populations
There was a measurable increase in application completion for applicants who received live help (phone, text, in-person assistance) versus those who applied on their own. Chicago’s data highlights the payoff from front-line navigators and in-person events, more than 700 of which were held during enrollment. These personal interactions build trust (“is this real?”) and close the digital divide. (WBEZ)
Tools for Informed Decisions
The majority of applicants to CRCP received one or more public benefits, such as SNAP, Medicaid, SSI/SSDI, and housing supports. GiveDirectly offered individualized benefits counseling to selected applicants to help them understand the potential impact the guaranteed income payments could have on the value of their existing safety net benefits. Providing specific answers to questions about the effect on income ensures that potential applicants can make a confident, informed decision to enroll based on their specific circumstances. The GI payments were treated by the IRS as gifts and thus did not count as taxable income.
Application Methods for City and County
CRCP allowed applicants to self‑attest and defer document upload unless selected, to reduce burden across ~176k applicants. This "trust, but verify" form of delayed documentation was so effective “.. [it] inspired other pilots to use this approach, including the Cook County Promise guaranteed income pilot.” (UChicago Urban Labs)
Because many selected households were hard to reach, the team made two key improvements to enrollment communications:
- Identifying designated ‘helpers’ (secondary contacts) to stay looped in from application through enrollment,
- Simplifying the application into multiple phases that require progressively more engagement, to keep touchpoints frequent while minimizing burden on most applicants.
After CRCP participants showed strong interest in financial coaching, Cook County Promise designed this in – half of all participants were offered financial‑coaching services, so IEL could measure the impact. (UChicago Urban Labs)
Teamwork: Funding, Administration, Evaluation
The data demonstrates that regular unconditional cash payments consistently help low income households reduce stress and financial instability, while demonstrating trust and allowing personal agency to decide whether to use that cash to pay bills, care for family, or launch small businesses.
CRCP demonstrated how such a program can be administered using three broad teams: government (or other) funding, a program administrator such as GiveDirectly, and an evaluation partner such as the Inclusive Economy Lab. Rural counties can adapt and further refine this playbook, just as the Cook County Promise demonstrated – future Guaranteed Income studies can benefit from the openly shared experiences of prior studies and open data to be even more effective and efficient.
References
- University of Chicago Urban Labs. “Guaranteed Income.” Inclusive Economy Lab, accessed September 2, 2025. . (Urban Labs)
- Shun, Maggie. “Why We Sent the Largest-Ever Cash Payment to Homeless Americans.” GiveDirectly, April 24, 2025. (GiveDirectly)
- Malagón, Elvia. “University of Chicago Study Praises Rollout of City’s Guaranteed Income Pilot.” WBEZ Chicago, November 27, 2024 (WBEZ)
- City of Chicago. “Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot Receives Over 100,000 Applications.” Mayor’s Press Office, May 2022. (Chicago Government)
- City of Chicago. “Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot Now Fully Enrolled with 5,000 Participants Receiving $500 Payments in August.” Mayor’s Press Office, September 13, 2022. (Chicago Government)