Experimental Design
3,851 individuals across Spain where Cáritas operates will be assigned to treatment or control, depending on their parish: on February 10th 2022, the Spanish Ministry of Social Inclusion implemented the randomization of 72 groups of parishes, which were provided by Cáritas according to criteria such as urban/rural, and income level. These parishes were randomly assigned to the treatment group (36 blocks, 1,952 people) or to the control group (36 blocks, 1,899 people).
The control group will not be “pure”, since people reaching out to Cáritas who do not get the personalized “ACCEDE” intervention will still be offered a set of interventions that is common to both the treatment and control groups. This common set of interventions will include the provision of financial or material help, the referral to Cáritas’ own resources, the referral to public social services, information on administrative rights individuals are entitled to, the management of administrative procedures, and the screening of people in particularly difficult situation (social isolation, mental health issues, domestic violence, addictions).
The treatment group will receive a specific set of additional actions, which will consist in a personalized itinerary aiming at strengthening the beneficiary’s capacities and consisting in an intensive accompaniment through all stages of the itinerary. All the specific actions will take place in a community space created for the occasion in –and only in- the treatment parishes. Inside the “ACCEDE” space, the intervention will consist of the following steps:
• creating groups with a participatory methodology,
• inviting participants to the activities that will take place in the community space
• providing digital access points with computers/tablets and internet connection,
• training sessions.
Training sessions will consist in eight modules: 1) healthy skills for personal self-care, 2) access to the IMV and other social benefits and economic management, 3) job search techniques, social and labor skills, 4) management, procedures, and claims, 5) digital skills, 6) access to public health services, 7) safe and adequate housing, 8) access to resources for education.