Re-Entry Guaranteed Basic Income
If we’re serious about reducing recidivism and building safer communities, let’s put our money where our mouths are and invest in the success of our re-entry population.
At the May 2 Board of Supervisors meeting, the Board unanimously approved my referral with Supervisor Chavez which directs Administration to collaborate with justice system, law enforcement, and community stakeholders to design a guaranteed basic income pilot program for monthly unrestricted cash assistance and supportive programming as a mechanism to stabilize re-entry clients, reduce recidivism and the associated costs of incarceration, and promote overall community safety. The program would include eligibility criteria that would target individuals most likely to benefit from this program, and a robust evaluation process so we can iterate as needed and build on proven success. It would be fully funded by federal dollars through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Let me say emphatically that this idea isn’t new and it isn’t radical. Government dollars support struggling community members in numerous ways, from housing vouchers and food stamps to healthcare and unemployment stipends. And when people are incarcerated, local tax dollars foot that bill for every individual, every day — some of whom enter and re-enter our jails in seemingly unending cycles. The biggest difference between most current government financial support programs and guaranteed basic income is in the flexibility of the dollars. The theory is that individuals who receive funds are best positioned to determine how to spend the money to meet their particular needs.
There are numerous examples of guaranteed basic income pilots from across the country that have demonstrated positive and sustained impact on pilot participants and, by extension, on their communities.
Studies of these pilots have shown that most of the spending goes to cover basic needs. There has been a lack of evidence to support public fears that recipients would spend money on “temptation goods,” such as drugs and alcohol, or that it would decrease their motivation to work. On the contrary, evidence suggests that work participation increases when people’s basic needs are met, which would allow participants to access this crucial protective factor to recidivism (Step Up Durham, 2022; Washington State, 2022; World Bank, 2014).
Lack of basic support makes maintaining the conditions of probation or parole (drug testing, treatment programs, paying fines, traveling to mandatory classrooms or programs) extremely difficult. Too often, people end up back in jail and restarting the cycle of incarceration though they have not caused additional harm. This cycle is costly to the individual, their families, and the public and does nothing to improve our overall safety.
This referral received public support from a broad range of community stakeholders including leaders from local business leaders, law enforcement, probation, other state and local elected officials, and community organizations. Some of their words are included below, and I encourage you to read them to see how leaders with wide-ranging perspectives can arrive at the same conclusion.
I know we need to get this right. There is skepticism about the wisdom of giving unrestricted dollars to individuals who may still be perceived as unworthy of investment, though they have paid whatever penalty the law required of them and, supported or not, are re-entering our community. There is skepticism about whether the money will be spent “wisely”, though there is evidence that most people spend most of the money to meet their basic needs. There is skepticism about whether the payments will decrease incentives to work, though the dollar amounts will not be sufficient to meet all needs. They may, however, provide the difference between sleeping on someone’s couch or renting a studio apartment or between purchasing a cell phone and bus pass or not having any way to get to a job interview or have a prospective employer follow up with a phone call. The success of the pilot isn’t 100% assured but evidence from other programs shows that the odds are very good that a good number of the folks who have the fortune to participate in this pilot will find themselves far better positioned to thrive in this community and far less likely to recidivate. I’ll take this bet.
