It’s too bad that pregnant women in Fresno aren’t equal to others for income pilot program

A strong effort by some key social service agencies in Fresno to create a local experiment in guaranteed monthly income has been turned down by state officials.

And that outcome is hard to understand, given Fresno’s well-documented struggles with concentrated poverty. Local leaders will next have to figure out if they can resuscitate their proposal with different funding.

On Monday the state Social Services Department announced it picked seven agencies to receive more than $25 million in first-ever grants to help pregnant women and foster youth. The winning agencies are in Southern California, the Bay Area and Northern California. No organizations were selected in the Central Valley.

When asked why Fresno’s application was not chosen, a Social Services representative said “a high number of applications were received, which underwent a rigorous review process.”

Out of poverty

Advocates of guaranteed income view it as a way to lift people out of poverty. Stockton pioneered the practice from 2019 to 2021 when the city, under the leadership of then Mayor Michael Tubbs, chose low-income residents to receive $500 a month for two years, with no conditions on how they might spend the money.

A follow-up study on the program’s success found that full-time employment rose among those who received the payments, and that their financial, physical and emotional health improved.

Sacramento followed up with a program of its own in January. According to Maya Miller of The Sacramento Bee, “The city started giving 100 families no-strings-attached payments of $300 per month, and payments will continue through July 2023. Recipients said they’ve been able to pay off overdue bills, afford emergency repairs to their cars and home appliances, and even consider saving to buy a home one day.”

In seeking proposals for its program, the state encouraged applicants to target aid to low-income pregnant women and foster youth, two demographic groups that historically have had difficulties breaking out of poverty.

A consortium of three Fresno organizations sought $5 million and said it would direct $1,000 monthly payments to pregnant women and foster youth, as well as children of parents who are incarcerated. A fourth group to be targeted were youth coming out of incarceration.

Some key statistics showing the local need were outlined in the application:

▪ The city has 20% of its households living at or below poverty.

▪ Fifty-two percent of Fresno County families live below the self-sufficiency standard.

▪ The county’s infant mortality rate is twice the state average.

▪ And 4,865 mothers in their first or second trimester in the Women, Infants and Children program were identified as eligible to be enrolled in the income assistance.

Joining forces in the application were the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, the Fresno-Madera United Way and the Center for Community Voices at Fresno State.

Significant help

In surveys done by the Center for Community Voices, the majority of respondents said a $500-per-month payment would cover “some of the gap” between their regular earnings and their expenses. So the award of double that amount, as Fresno proposed, would have been a significant benefit.

The power of a guaranteed income is in how it can reduce stress and offer some financial security. Participants in Stockton found they were better able to spend time looking for jobs. Tubbs made those points last summer during a listening-tour visit to west Fresno. He conducted meetings around the state to advise Gov. Newsom on the guaranteed-income pilot program.

It is hard to understand why the state did not include Fresno. The region’s poverty challenges are decades old and deeply analyzed. Besides having low incomes, west Fresnans live in some of the most polluted neighborhoods in the state, which just adds to their plight.

Andy Levine, a co-director of the Center for Community Voices, said the EOC, United Way and his group will consider next steps. The organizations may seek philanthropy to fund their proposal.

If ever there is a city where a guaranteed-income program would yield instant results, Fresno is it. It’s too bad Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration did not see it that way.