Grant Proposal – Baltimore’s Guaranteed Income Project

Project Description

Baltimore’s Guaranteed Income (GI) Pilot will provide an unconditional monthly payment of $1000 for 24 months to 200 young parents or caretakers between 18–24 years old with limited household income. The project builds off the success of SEED, the nation’s first mayor-led Guaranteed Income project which reduced recipients’ income volatility, improved their physical and mental health, and enabled them to find full-time employment at twice the rate of nonrecipients. Baltimore’s GI project will address income inequality that has been compounded by the pandemic and will combat the economic fallout from COVID-19 by providing payments to parents who have been hit hardest by the crisis with schools and daycares closing, experiences of unemployment, and housing or food insecurity. Baltimore is the birthplace of redlining and that legacy shows up in the stark inequalities of our city still today, these inequalities have only been exacerbated by this pandemic. Guaranteed income has proven to be a key tool for improving racial and gender equity and the recipients’ quality-of-life. Furthermore, this pilot will be rigorously evaluated to bolster understanding of Guaranteed Income’s impact.

The pilot project will launch a live application for participants to enroll in late March 2022. Enrollment and benefits counseling will ensue through April 2022. Monthly cash payments will then likely begin late April 2022. Research will be ongoing from this point forward;  the financial disbursement partner will share transaction data monthly, and participants will complete monthly surveys and annual interviews. The monthly cash payments will end after 24 months of payments and all final reports on outcomes will be released by year in 2024 and 2025. During the 24 months of implementation, ongoing qualitative data about the impact of the pilot project will also be available through a storytelling cohort who have volunteered to share their experiences with the pilot project with the public.

The Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success (MOCFS) has partnered with various organizations to implement the Guaranteed Income program. The Mayors for Guaranteed Income (MGI) is providing technical assistance through the planning, preparation and implementation of Baltimore’s Guaranteed Income Pilot project. MOCFS has also partnered with the CASH Campaign non-profit to administer the program. The CASH Campaign will bring a wealth of experience in benefits counseling and wrap-around services that will support project implementation. MOCFS is also partnering with the financial technology company, Steady, to distribute funds to participants. Finally, Abt Associates, Johns Hopkins, and the Center for Guaranteed Income Research will partner with us to evaluate the impact of the project. Both CASH Campaign and Steady have extensive experience in providing services similar to what they will provide for this pilot project. CASH Campaign has ample experience administering federal funds, including CSBG, SNAP outreach, and IRS funds. Steady has also proven to be a reliable disbursement partner through their work with Louisiana and Alabama to distribute pandemic unemployment assistance, mixed earner unemployment compensation and disaster unemployment assistance. 

We do not plan to continue this program beyond the pilot at this point, rather we hope that this pilot can serve as a proof of concept and that the evaluation that comes from this pilot and others across the country will be pivotal in federal advocacy for implementing and funding these programs across the country with federal funding.

Key stakeholders/staff involved in project 

·  Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success will support this pilot through the Chief of Policy and Partnerships, and a Policy Associate.

·  The current steering committee will transition to serve as an advisory committee throughout the course of the pilot.

·  CASH Campaign will be the non-profit partner that administers the program over the course of the pilot, including offering individual benefits counseling for each selected participant at time of enrollment and as needed throughout the 2-year program.

·  Steady, a financial technology company, will be the disbursement partner for the payments to participants. They have served as a reliable disbursement partner in other programs across the country.

·  Mayors for Guaranteed Income staff will provide technical assistance throughout implementation.

·  Abt Associates, Johns Hopkins, and Center for Guaranteed Income Research will partner with the pilot to evaluate the impact of the project.

Outcomes (anticipated, measurable project outcomes)

Baltimore’s Guaranteed Income pilot project will contract with the Center for Guaranteed Income Research, Johns Hopkins and Abt Associates to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluation of the project. In the RCT evaluation, the center will review quantitative & qualitative data across multiple core domains, which are studied in GI programs nationally, including recipients’ physical functioning, mental health, income volatility, spending, consumption, employment, education, family dynamics and parenting, stress and coping, hope and mattering, household food security, and COVID-19 variables. 

Research from SEED, the first mayor’s guaranteed income project demonstrates that guaranteed income projects reduced recipients’ income volatility, improved their health, and enabled them to secure more gainful employment. According to the Guaranteed Income Pilot in Jackson Mississippi, additional income allowed mothers to invest in their health and the health of their children. We anticipate similar outcomes in Baltimore’s program.

Support Financial Stabilization - Recurring unconditional payments over a 24 month period should provide a financial floor for young parents that supports them in their monthly financial planning. This supplemental income should also better equip young families to cover emergency expenses, pay down debt, and better afford necessities like rent, utilities, food, and medical care. 

Improve Mental, Emotional, and Physical Health - Constant worry from lack of income can lead to an increase in depression and anxiety. Lack of income can also discourage people from seeking medical help for themselves or their children. Baltimore’s guaranteed income pilot project can add a layer of security that may mitigate negative mental health symptoms in young parents while providing them with the additional income to more easily invest in their health and the health of their children. 

Increased Goal-Setting/Risk Taking -Supplemental income can reduce income scarcity for recipients allowing them to focus on more long-term goals such as attaining an educational goal, paying down debt, or securing higher-wage employment.  The income might also provide an opportunity for recipients to take small risks such as taking temporarily reduced hours to study for a degree or requesting a day off work to have an interview. For the 18-24 year olds that the pilot project aims to benefit, this ability to set goals and take risks is especially important as they are still working to establish themselves and their families.