A new pilot program is going to give families $1,000 per month of guaranteed income. This will help about 3,200 families in poverty who were impacted by the pandemic.
The program began Oct. 26 for certain Los Angeles families and it’s called the BIG:LEAP which stands for Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot.
The payments will go out for 12 months and there are no rules for how families are expected to spend the cash like there are with things like food stamps.
Families that struggle will now be getting $12,000 for one year.
In order to qualify, the following requirements need to be met:
- Be a resident of the City of Los Angeles
- Be age 18 or older
- Have at least one dependent child, meaning a child under 18 or a student under 24, or be pregnant
- Have an income level below the Federal Poverty Level
- Have experienced financial or medical hardship because of COVID-19
Applications are open for those that meet the requirements from Oct. 29 at 8 a.m. until Nov. 7 at 11:59 p.m.
3,000 families will be selected at random to try the pilot program.
Other cities that are creating their own similar programs include Chicago, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and some cities in New York State.
Different areas have different requirements for income or poverty levels, and you can check with your city to see if there is a pilot program in place.
Related: These people will get another $1,100 stimulus check before 2022
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