A guaranteed income program in Los Angeles County will soon start accepting applications. Under the program, $1,000 guaranteed monthly checks from Los Angeles County will go to former foster children. The application for the program will open on June 20.
Guaranteed Monthly Checks From Los Angeles County: Who Will Get Them?
Los Angeles County’s guaranteed income program, Breathe, will select 200 applicants, who will receive guaranteed monthly checks from Los Angeles County of $1,000 for two years. The program aims “to provide its residents the chance to ‘breathe’ easier knowing they are more financially secure.”
Applications for the program will open on June 20 (6 a.m.) and will close on July 3 (11:59 p.m.). The money will go to LA County DCFS (Department of Children and Families) Foster Youth between the ages of 21 and 23.
To qualify for the guaranteed monthly check from Los Angeles County, an applicant must be at least 21 years old and must not have turned 24 before Sept. 1, 2023. Further, the applicant must have been in care on or after their 18th birthday (aka “aged out”).
Apart from these, applicants must have a household income at or below 100% of the area median income for a single-person household, while the income must be at or below 120% for a household of two or more persons.
Moreover, applicants must have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Those enrolled in any other guaranteed income program won’t qualify for the Breathe guaranteed income program.
Selected applicants will get the money through debit cards. It must be noted that applicants don’t need to have a bank account to participate in the program. Selected applicants will be contacted directly using the information they provided with the application.
Not A New Program
Los Angeles County’s Breathe guaranteed income program is not new. It was launched as a pilot project last year, where it selected 1,000 people who will get $1,000 every month for three years.
Last year, 1,000 applicants were selected randomly from the pool of eligible applicants. The program is now adding 200 more people, according to the Washington Examiner.
To gauge the outcome of the program, the University of Pennsylvania and other local and national research partners will carry out a randomized control study. The program randomly selects 2,000 applicants to participate in the research study only, i.e., they will not get a monthly payment.
These applicants will need to complete periodic surveys and interviews, and the information they give will be compared with the “treatment group” to determine the effectiveness of the program. Control group participants will receive a $30 gift card for each completed survey.
As per the program’s FAQ, some benefits the participants are already receiving could be affected. Thus, the participants will have an opportunity to talk to a benefits counselor regarding their situation, and then they can decide whether or not they want to participate.
Visit this link to get more information on Los Angeles County’s Breathe guaranteed income program.
