A city in California is seeking to design a program to provide a monthly income to transgender and nonbinary people.
On March 24, the Palm Springs City Council unanimously approved the request made by local nonprofit organizations DAP Health and Queer Works for $200,000 in funding to back the research and design of the program.
CEO of DAP Health, David Brinkman, said in a statement, “Based on the early success of other guaranteed income pilots around the country and state – including Stockton, San Diego, San Francisco, L.A., and West Hollywood – we’re eager to pilot this approach here.”
He added, “Helping people in need to better their life circumstances by directly providing them with income is an approach that’s showing great promise.”
Brinkman explained they hope “that the pilot we design will inspire the City of Palm Springs to join together with DAP Health and other funders to bring significant state funding to Palm Springs.”
He continued, “Our goal is to develop a model that impacts the greatest number of individuals possible. We hope our pilot will help confirm that guaranteed income is a cost-effective way to create positive outcomes.”
The organizations have made clear their intent to prioritize support for transgender and nonbinary residents.
“People who are Trans and Non-Binary are highly marginalized in our society in general, especially economically,” Jacob Rostowsky, CEO of Queer Works, said.
The goal of the pilot program would be to provide direct financial assistance to individuals for a period of roughly 18 months.
The Washington Examiner noted funding would be distributed to at least 20 participants each month totaling approximately somewhere between $600 and $900.
