$18K, 18 Months, No Strings Attached: Contra Costa County Pilots Guaranteed Income Program

Updated 12:26 p.m. Wednesday

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a guaranteed income pilot project this week that will provide eligible residents with regular cash payments for more than a year.

Under the Contra Costa THRIVES Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, 170 participants will be given $18,000 over 18 months. The project, administered by the county’s Employment and Human Services Department, specifically focuses on youth transitioning from foster care, families with young children and people who were previously incarcerated.

Supporters of the program say it will provide participants with more financial stability and improve employment opportunities, while others are concerned that the program’s benefits are a temporary solution, compared to other programs. Some county residents who attended the Board of Supervisors meeting were also frustrated at what they said were the program’s overly strict eligibility requirements.

In order to qualify for the program, participants must be part of an existing social services initiative, such as CalWORKS’ Welfare-to-Work or Adult Protective Services and must have legal control of their own finances. People who are or have been part of a different guaranteed income program will not be considered.

Once eligibility is determined, the final participants will be randomly selected.

Funding for the program will be allocated from three sources: $3.25 million from the Measure X sales tax, $1 million from Assembly Bill 109 and $16,200 from a Contra Costa County-based nonprofit.

Employment and Human Services Department officials said 75% of the program’s budget will be dedicated to direct payments for participants.

“As a child, my family relied on programs like [Aid to Families with Dependent Children] and food stamps. Later, as an adult, I received Medi-Cal,” Aisha Teal, a workforce services specialist at the department, told the Board of Supervisors during Tuesday’s meeting. “I know firsthand the difference these programs make in people’s lives.”

Several community members and some supervisors pushed back against the plan, however.

Supervisor Shanelle Scales-Preston said many people in the community are afraid to sign up for county programs, especially those who are particularly vulnerable. Some immigrant families are afraid to fill out paperwork because they fear being tracked, she said, adding that they would be barred from participating because of the program’s enrollment requirement.

She also expressed concern regarding the long-term evaluation that would be conducted during and after the project. The study will be outsourced to a university and could cost more than $600,000.

“I don’t want all the money just going out to all of these other entities … This program is for our low-income, our marginalized communities,” Scales-Preston said. “That’s where the direct services really need to go.”

Johana Gurdian, a representative of the Contra Costa Guaranteed Income Coalition, said she is frustrated at what she described as the county’s disregard of community groups.

The program “leaves out entire sectors of our county, like our undocumented families that are literally being taken away from Concord courthouse. This leaves out folks that are simply above the federal poverty limits that have stayed the same for the last 40-plus years,” she said.

While county officials behind the initiative have met advisory groups such as the Economic Opportunity Committee, they have yet to sit down with the people who will actually be most affected, Gurdian said.

Several Bay Area municipalities have already experimented with guaranteed income programs. Stockton was one of the first cities in the state to introduce its own pilot program, which lasted for two years. As part of the experiment, more than 100 low-income residents were given $500 every month with no requirements for how to spend it.

Oakland also introduced its own pilot program, which lasted for 18 months and cost $6.7 million. A study conducted at the end of the experiment found that employment for participating residents increased from 15 to 26%. It also showed that 44% were less likely to become homeless.

June 9: A previous version of this story misattributed a quote to Marla Stuart, director of the Employment and Human Services Department. It has been corrected to attribute the quote to Aisha Teal, a workforce services specialist.