Guaranteed Income Program Launched in Arlington, Virginia

Arlington County, Virginia is launching a guaranteed income pilot program that will provide $500 to 200 low-income working families for 18 months. According to Neal Augenstein, the program will be administered by the Arlington Community Foundation in partnership with the Arlington County Department of Human Services.

Arlington joins roughly 100 similar programs around the country, including nearby Alexandria, which launched this August. The program is targeted at "very low-income households that have children in the home," said Anne Vor der Bruegge, director of grants and initiatives for ACF. The county hopes the initiative will reduce household stress and help households move out of poverty, giving them "some extra cushion to look for a job or to get the certifications you need, so not having enough money to take those steps forward is actually a barrier to getting a better job."

Vor de Bruegge says Arlington has "about 10,000 households, or 25,000 individuals that are making less than $38,700 for a family of four," while the median household income for the county is $129,000. The county is depending on private donors and philanthropic organizations, as well as money from the American Rescue Plan, to fund the program.