By Maggie Angst
See original post here.
More than 200 San Francisco families that recently experienced homelessness will receive $1,000 monthly cash payments as part of a new guaranteed income program funded largely by Google.
The program — called ‘It All Adds Up’ — is part of a first-of-its-kind, five-year study on the impact that guaranteed basic income has on Bay Area families. It is operated by San Francisco nonprofits Compass Family Services and Hamilton Families, and will be studied and evaluated by New York University’s Housing Solutions Lab.
Guaranteed income programs have been around for centuries, but recently the concept has been gaining more traction among policy makers who see it as a promising tool to combat the nation’s homelessness and affordable housing crises, address wealth disparities and prevent people from falling deeper into poverty.
Cities and counties across the Bay Area, including Oakland, San Francisco and Santa Clara County, have all launched pilot basic income programs in recent years. But Hamilton Families CEO Kyriell Noon said this will be the first to focus specifically on families in the Bay Area teetering on the edge of homelessness.
“We know it works,” Noon said about such programs. “What we’re trying to do is gather enough compelling data to take to City Hall, Sacramento, (the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development) and change policy.”
The launch of the program comes as San Francisco struggles to provide enough shelter beds and services for its homeless families. The city pledged in 2017 to eliminate homelessness among families, but the problem has only worsened. Lately, new immigrant families have become particularly vulnerable to homelessness in San Francisco.
A 2021 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that it took more than four minimum wage jobs for a household to comfortably afford a two-bedroom apartment in the San Francisco area.
“It’s unacceptable that we live in a place where there’s so much wealth and resources,” Noon said, “and yet there are families choosing between eating and paying rent.”
Under the new program, 225 families will be randomly selected to receive $1,000 monthly cash payments for a year, while another 225 families, who are representing the control group, will receive $50 a month. Participants are able to use this money however they choose.
To be eligible for the program, families must be nearing the end of a rental subsidy program provided by Compass Family Services or Hamilton Families. The nonprofits began enrolling families in November, and as of the end of April, about 30 families were enrolled in the program, according to Noon. More families will be added each month until all 450 spaces are filled.
“We’re hoping that this will provide a softer landing for families who are exiting our subsidy programs and help them maintain financial stability,” Noon said.
New York University’s Housing Solutions Lab will assess the success of the program based on the number of families that stay stably housed or return to homelessness, as well as any changes in the family’s income, employment status and health.
Google’s nonprofit arm is largely funding the program, as well as five other basic income pilot programs, as part of the company’s commitment in 2019 to invest $1 billion toward increasing housing supply and combatting homelessness in its backyard.
“We’ve consistently seen that putting cash directly in the hands of families in need provides the flexibility they need to build the life they want,” Justin Steele, director of Americas for Google.org, said in a statement. “Direct cash giving is a promising new approach to homelessness, and we’re excited to support this pilot as a part of our broader commitment to increasing housing in the Bay Area.”
