Boulder experiments with giving cash to parents with young children
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Boulder County is looking to give low-income parents with young children cash payments as part of a new experiment to help families with the rising cost of living.
State of play: The $300-a-month payments — funded with $6 million in federal pandemic relief dollars — are designed to reach families without access to other social safety net benefits, particularly immigrants who reside in the country illegally.
- Parents who are eligible for the Nurturing Futures program have a child under age 4 and a household income at 30% or below the median level, which is $43,800 for a family of four.
- Payments to 725 families picked by lottery will start in October and continue for two years.
The big picture: The pilot program is the latest universal basic income experiment in Colorado. Each targets slightly different populations but shares the same goal to lift more people out of poverty and foster economic security.
- At the state level, the Polis administration is providing cash assistance to renters in need and unemployed people living in the country illegally.
- In Denver, the universal basic income project is targeting unhoused women, as well as transgender and gender-nonconforming people.
What they're saying: "Doing something very, very directly supportive of people in that economically precarious position was very important to us," said Claire Levy, a Boulder County commissioner leading the effort. "It takes a whole fabric — a web — to meet all the different needs people have."
Between the lines: Boulder has its own UBI initiative that provides 200 low-income households with $500 a month for two years, but those participants are not eligible for the new program.
The intrigue: Denver's program — like other direct cash-assistance efforts — is showing signs of early success in helping people cover living expenses and debts.
- But other programs, such as rent relief efforts, are struggling to get money to people and prevent evictions.
What we're watching: Boulder's assistance program for parents is funded with one-time federal money, though its supporters hope private fundraising and public money will make it permanent.