In 2011, Memphis, Tennessee launched an initiative called Family Rewards. The $11.5 million initiative was meant to mirror a similar program in New York City that offers cash incentives to teens who maintain regular attendance in school, earn good grades, and attend doctor and dentist visits. Parents are also given rewards for completed their GED and keeping a job. The goal of the initiative is to give families an incentive to improve their health and accomplish things that will help them pull themselves out of poverty.
Families who participated in the initiative were pre-selected based on their receipt of public assistance and/or food stamps and having a child enrolled in high school. A total of 613 families with 850 ninth and tenth grade students were selected.
