On Monday, Mayor Brandon Scott hosted a press conference at the Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition (HEBCAC)’s Eastside YO Center to announce the opening of applications for the city guaranteed income pilot, officially known as the Baltimore Young Families Success Fund. During the pilot, Baltimore will pay $1,000 per month to 200 young parents, from 18 to 24 years old, for two years.
OSI Director Danielle Torain, who co-chairs the mayor’s Guaranteed Income steering committee with OSI Advisory Board Vice-Chair Joe Jones, spoke at the press conference about how the pilot project was developed using lessons learned from the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Program (CEAP), which OSI coordinated with the city. HEBCAC is a key community-based partner for both CEAP and the guaranteed income pilot.
“Our own experience here in Baltimore has demonstrated that direct assistance to people in need can have an immediate and transformative impact on their lives,” she said, explaining how the 15,000 Baltimore residents who receiving $400 cards as part of the CEAP program used the funds. “Data show recipients used the cards to buy groceries, to pay rent, to buy medicine, to pay bills—to essentially cover the expenses necessary to help them get through difficult times.”
The application, which can be found here, will be open until 11:59pm on Monday, May 9th.
