Hundreds of families in Oakland can apply for the pilot program to receive monthly income checks, with no strings attached.
Oakland Resilient Families is one of the largest guaranteed income pilot programs in the country, the city said in a release on Wednesday. The program provides low-income families a $500 stipend each month for 18 months.
Families with at least one child in the household younger than 18 and an annual household income that does not exceed 138% of the federal poverty line are eligible to apply, according to city officials.
"Applications are only going to be open for two weeks," Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said on Wednesday. "So please get your application in by (November 3)."
In Phase 1 of the program, 300 East Oakland families within a square-mile stretch of City Council Districts 6 and 7 began receiving $500 a month in June. For Phase 2, 300 qualified applicants will be randomly selected to join them in receiving a guaranteed income for 18 months.
"One-hundred percent of the funding for Oakland's guaranteed income demonstration is from Blue Meridian, a philanthropic national funder," Schaaf said.
The pilot program is aimed at breaking the vicious cycle of poverty, and proponents hope it will be a model for the rest of the country.
Eligible Oakland families can apply for the program here.
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