Jae C. Hong/AP
Some community college students in Los Angeles are about to get an influx of no-strings-attached payments — just in time for the holidays.
The Los Angeles Community College District is disbursing $3 million in monthly basic income payments to 250 students pursuing health careers. The LACCD said it will provide $1,000 per recipient for 12 months.
The program, called the Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students to Thrive (BOOST) program, will "accelerate and strengthen the credentialing process for young people pursuing careers in the medical field," Gerun Riley, the president of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation — which funded the program — in a press release.
Selected students from four LAACD colleges will get their first payment before Thanksgiving.
Guaranteed basic income programs have popped up all over the country in recent years. They offer specific groups of people, like those with low incomes, new mothers, or, in this case, community college students, a set amount of cash every month for a period of time that they can spend however they want. The programs are the cousin of a universal basic income, which, if ever adopted, would provide all people, regardless of status, a monthly payment.
Los Angeles, in particular, has shown enthusiasm for the programs. The city's Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot, or BIG:LEAP, gave over 3,200 households $1,000 in monthly no-strings-attached cash payments for a year. Participants said their employment situations, food security, and home lives all improved thanks to the support.
Following that program, LA officials are looking at a similar program for survivors of domestic violence and those aging out of the foster care system.
