Direct Investment in Youth: Rooted School, GiveCard, and the Evolution of The $50 Study

‍

This case explores the origin, launch, completion, and implications of “The $50 Study," examining the operational, ethical, and policy-driven questions that emerge when direct cash is put in the hands of teenagers.

‍

Overview

In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Rooted School—an innovative charter network based in New Orleans, Louisiana—launched an initiative to test the impact of guaranteed income for high school students. What began as a modest pilot involving ten students has grown into a nationally recognized model of youth empowerment through direct cash transfers. Central to its evolution was a strategic partnership with GiveCard, a disbursements partner who gave Rooted School the capability to scale, automate, and extend financial inclusion in ways traditional banking partners could not.

‍

The Problem
At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rooted School faced a daunting challenge as it transitioned to virtual learning: declining student attendance. Interviews with students revealed that financial strain at home—loss of parental income, increased childcare responsibilities—was forcing many teens to reprioritize work over school.

‍

Talia Livneh, the Senior Director of Programs at Rooted School, noted that “students were being asked to either take on work to support their families or stay home to provide childcare… there was an undeniable need for additional monetary resources.” 

These insights presented an opportunity for intervention, which came through a fiscal partnership with nonprofit 4.0 Schools and its CEO Hassan Hassan, who sought to explore what guaranteed income could look like for youth.

‍

“There was sort of this unique opportunity of a deep need from our students, along with external funding and leadership around putting money in the hands of young people.” - Talia Livneh, Senior Director of Programs, Rooted School

‍

The Pilot

Rooted School’s initial proof of concept was backed by 4.0 Schools, and provided ten randomly selected high school seniors with $50 a week. The goal was not just support, but discovery: could direct cash impact student wellbeing and bring them back to school? Rooted School partnered with the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Tennessee - Knoxville to research the outcomes of this study.

‍

What they found wasn’t just promising– it provided enough evidence to support an expansion to the study. It revealed that students used the funds primarily for food, transportation, and essentials, using the additional resources to take care of the necessary parts of their home life to allow them to come back to school.

‍

Scaling Up: Infrastructure and Equity through GiveCard

By 2022, Rooted launched a full-scale, dual-phase, randomized control trial (RCT), distributing funds to 173 students and using a traditional payroll product. It worked well for many, but not all. Rooted School Foundation named the program “The $50 Study”. 

‍

“One of the things we learned in the early days is that it’s really hard to give money to young people.” – Talia Livneh

‍

The logistics were complex- Without bank accounts, many students struggled to receive funds through apps like CashApp or Zelle. Cash transfers to those digital applications could not be automated, so the Rooted School team was left to manually disburse funds on a weekly basis, increasing the burden on internal teams and introducing more potential points of failure if something were to go wrong. What’s more, weekly transfers were inconsistent, often delayed by minor technicalities like incorrect or old phone numbers. 

‍

While a partnership with the traditional payroll product solved some of these problems, one issue still stood out: the program left out students who did not feel comfortable providing their Social Security Numbers to an outside program. “We were inadvertently excluding a number of students from the program who did not want to disclose their personal information like social security numbers… that’s one of the main reasons we reached out to GiveCard”, Livneh noted. 

‍

Unlike traditional banking tools, GiveCard was able to increase access to a wider set of students, and offered real-time automation, transaction tracking, and equitable access. With this new piece of infrastructure in place, Rooted launched its largest pilot yet: a $1 million initiative in partnership with the City of New Orleans, funded through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocations. The program reached 250 students across nine high schools.

‍

Impact: Redefining Trust and Challenging Assumptions

Rooted School Foundations’ and The $50 Study’s model is built on a core ethos: trust students. “We believe students know what they need,” said Livneh. “Unrestricted cash is the ultimate manifestation of that belief.”

‍

The program fostered a greater sense of autonomy and dignity among participants. Students reported feeling “seen” and valued—not just as learners, but as individuals capable of managing responsibility. While this was harder to quantify, it was frequently cited in qualitative interviews and follow-ups. The design of the program was intentionally unconditional, trust-based, and choice-driven, and contributed to increased engagement with school and, in some cases, improved mental health. By removing barriers common in traditional aid models, the $50 Study positioned students not as passive recipients but as active agents in their own economic lives.

‍

Critics questioned whether $50/week could create lasting change. Yet Rooted School’s data tells another story:

-Most students spent funds on basic needs: transportation and food.

-Many began saving after initial months—anticipating college expenses or costs to attend key school events.

‍

This aligned with GiveCard’s experience running other assistance programs across the nation. Recipients of direct cash aid do not spend frivolously— in fact, people spent their money on bare living necessities like food, formula, baby clothes.

‍

The $50 Study produced many data points that dispelled false narratives around poverty, and why a person may be living in those circumstances. It decidedly demonstrated that poverty in many cases was NOT the result of poor decisions nor poor budget making; on the contrary, individuals in these life circumstances are often the most money-aware and the best budgeters of the resources they have.

‍

Policy, Funding, and the Future

With expansion underway in Washington D.C. and discussions in other regions, Rooted School’s broader ambition is policy change: to utilize guaranteed income for youth as a mainstream educational tool. In light of this, Rooted School is expanding beyond New Orleans to other sites nationwide, to eventually be able to make a wider impact and make a broader push for policy. In the fall of 2025, Rooted School hopes to open a new school location in Las Vegas, and in additional schools in 2026 and 2027.

‍

“We always think about how we can use our schools as a place to test and then scale interventions that lead to upward economic mobility.”

‍

Rooted School Foundation is a nonprofit organization in New Orleans, Louisiana, encompassing several public charter schools and youth programs. Check out the Rooted Cash podcast here, to hear directly from students who participated in The $50 Study talk about their experience.

‍

To learn more about GiveCard and how we can help your organization with direct cash based programming, get in touch with our team here.

‍