The city of Long Beach in California has launched a pilot program called the Long Beach Recovery Act to provide financial assistance to families impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over 2,700 applicants from single-income families have applied for the program. The program is funded by federal and state recovery funds.
The next step is to verify the eligibility of the applicants by requesting more documentation from them.
250 families from the 90813 ZIP code will be chosen to receive $500 monthly payments for a year, along with free child care, transportation support, and workforce training.
The city has partnered with Fund for Guaranteed Income (F4GI), a non-profit organization, to help with the program.
F4GI has also launched a similar program in Compton, providing families with payments between $300 and $600 every month for two years.
Data on the families will be tracked by the Long Beach program and presented to the City Council.
A similar program was launched in Stockton in 2019 and showed positive results, with participants using the money for basic necessities and reporting lower rates of anxiety and depression.
The Long Beach program hopes to have a similar impact and help form future guaranteed income policies at various levels.