Direct payment of $500 dollars will be sent to California residents: when and who is eligible

This summer some 305 families of 6,450 applicants in Sonoma County, California will benefit from a direct payment of up to $500 dollars, which is part of the Pathway to Income Equity pilot program.

According to Angie Dillon-Shore, executive director of First 5 Sonoma County, the program is part of an experiment to learn how low-income families are affected by guaranteed income.

In this sense, payments will be sent from June 21. Eligible applicants had to meet certain requirements such as: a low family income, having at least one child under the age of 6, and having been affected by the pandemic due to illness, job loss, among others.

According to Dillon-Shore “this additional income will allow them to spend more time with their families, find a better job or improve their financial well-being, which will result in better outcomes for their children,” she said while He added that “the information we gain from this pilot program will help shape future efforts to improve the health and well-being of our community,” he said.

The study conducted by First 5 Sonoma County is deploying “external evaluators to conduct qualitative research (surveys, interviews and focus groups) with participants over the two years,” Dillon-Shore said. The results of the report are expected to be published between 2024 and 2025.