In her State of the City speech, Speaker Adrienne Adams suggested expanding funding for guaranteed income programs already in place in New York City and providing households with direct cash handouts.
Giving people access to unrestricted funds they can use any way they like is the goal of a guaranteed income. Adams’s anticipated unconditional support may end up going to several other organizations.
This includes single mothers who are having financial difficulties. Foster adolescents and other young people at risk of homelessness may potentially be eligible for financial aid.
Adams proposes investing an additional $5 million in guaranteed income as part of his strategy to fight poverty, with the driving concept being people before everything. The funding would go to nonprofits that have already started developing guaranteed income programs.
One such program is The Bridge Project, which offers low-income mothers $500 to $1,000 each month. Women also need to live in a qualifying zip code in addition to being pregnant or having a child under a year old. The household’s total annual income must be less than $52,000.
The Children’s Defense Fund and Chapin Hall are two further potential winners. Chapin Hall’s goal is to prevent youth homelessness by giving them regular monthly financial assistance. To help New Yorkers transcend poverty, Adams suggests, among other things, increasing funding for programs that provide guaranteed income.
The idea to restructure the city’s pre-kindergarten program, construct more affordable housing, support entrepreneurship, expand the use of Fair Fares, and close Rikers Island by 2027 was also proposed.
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Other States’ Financial Assistance
Unrestricted monetary aid for citizens to utilize as needed is also being looked into by other significant cities around the country, including Chicago and Los Angeles.
The debate over the notion peaked in New York City during the Democratic mayoral primary in 2021, when Andrew Yang’s candidacy focused on establishing a universal basic income to fight poverty.
A statute that was passed into law late last year is paving the way for a cash assistance program for homeless and runaway adolescents throughout the state of New York.
The Bridge Project, which provides expectant moms with monthly financial payments for three years, is one of the organizations that will be identified and funded under Adams’ proposal by the Council.
According to the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, more than one in four Black children and nearly one in three Hispanic children in New York City are living in poverty.
Agarwal, 600 mothers are currently enrolled in the Bridge Project’s guaranteed income programs in a few communities in the Bronx and northern Manhattan. For the first 18 months, each mother earns $1,000, and for the next 18 months, she receives $500.
As per Agarwal, The Bridge Project intends to launch trial programs for guaranteed income in all five boroughs by this summer and outside of New York City by the end of the year.
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