By Robert J. Hansen | OBSERVER Staff Writer
In 2019, Stockton became the nation’s first city to launch a guaranteed income program for its most disadvantaged residents. The program provided 25 low-income households with $500 a month for two years.
A study conducted by the University of Tennessee and the University of Pennsylvania found the program to be a success, showing participants experienced better health, found new job opportunities, and were less burdened by unexpected expenses.
At the time, Michael Tubbs was Stockton’s mayor, and he worked with private donors to make the program possible. Tubbs, now 34, praised the Sacramento County supervisors for establishing a county guaranteed income pilot program.
Sacramento County’s Department of Child, Family, and Adult Services has partnered with United Way California Capital Region to launch the Family First Economic Support Pilot. This program offers qualifying families guaranteed payments of $725 a month for one year.
“They’re showing great leadership, and I think it’s amazing that the Board of Supervisors found a revenue source to transition the program from pilot to policy,” Tubbs said.
The Family First Economic Support Pilot, primarily funded by state grants, is intended to support prevention and early intervention of foster care with a goal of keeping families together.
To qualify for Sacramento County’s income program, families must live in one of the following ZIP codes: 95815, 95821, 95823, 95825, 95828, or 95838. Applicants must be the parent or legal guardian of a Black/African American, American Indian, or Alaska Native child aged newborn to 5 years old, with an annual household income below 200% of the federal poverty line.
California Department of Social Services specifically identified goals of reducing incidences of abuse and neglect, decreasing entries into foster care, improving economic and other concrete resources for families, with the intention of prioritizing services that focus on racial equity and reducing disproportionate entries of Black and American Indian/Alaska Native families into the foster care system.
Sacramento’s pilot aims to provide additional income to eligible families in targeted ZIP codes, as data indicates that African American and Native American children have higher rates of contact with the child welfare system compared to other ethnic groups.
According to county data, Black and Native children were 41/2 times and nearly two times, respectively, more likely to be removed from their families than white children between 2021 and 2022.
Tubbs believes focusing on foster youth is an effective way to equitably target a guaranteed income program. “We know that foster youth are all our children, and many former foster youth are now experiencing homelessness, so this program also serves as a homelessness prevention measure,” he said.
Poverty can lead to neglect, prompting investigations by child protective services, said county spokesperson Macy Obernuefemann. “The goal is to prevent families from coming into contact with the child welfare system in the first place, or to prevent recurring contact for those who have already faced it early in life,” Obernuefemann explained to CapRadio.
Tubbs addressed criticism of the program’s focus on guardians of Black and Native children, saying the county based its decisions on data. “The reason for the program’s focus on specific groups is not a cause for celebration; it’s a cause for deep mourning,” he said. “These young people would prefer to live in a world free from historic and structural racism, which is why this guaranteed income program is needed.”
He noted that the concept of guaranteed income is not new and dates to the 1790s, when thinkers such as Thomas Paine and Thomas Spence first advocated for it as a right for all citizens. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also championed guaranteed income as a solution to poverty in his 1967 book, “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?”
About 150 guaranteed income programs operate in at least 27 states, with approximately 60 affiliated with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, an organization Tubbs is part of. This network of mayors advocates for guaranteed income to ensure that all Americans have a financial safety net.
Tubbs emphasized the necessity of guaranteed income programs in the U.S., particularly in California, where the cost of living has outpaced wages over the past 40 years. “These programs allow working individuals to avoid financial struggles,” he said. “In a society that creates so much, no one should have nothing.”
Some Republican lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin have attempted to ban guaranteed income programs, arguing they discourage work. Tubbs countered that studies show the opposite effect. “Most of the time, the impact on work is positive. People can afford child care and address other priorities,” he stated.
He criticized those who oppose basic or guaranteed income, suggesting they perpetuate a system that benefits from poverty. “Those who are pro-poverty and pro-marginalization are anti-prosperity for everyone and against guaranteed income. That’s simply their agenda,” Tubbs said.Applications opened Sept. 30 and close on Oct. 13. Two hundred applicants will be randomly selected, and United Way will contact those chosen to discuss next steps and verify eligibility. Applications can be submitted online.