As Fairfax County’s guaranteed income pilot reaches the one-year mark, officials say they’re identifying the residents most in need, as they work to improve social services programs.
Launched in October 2023, the Economic Mobility Pilot — funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and the Fairfax County Human Services Council’s Innovation Fund — provides $750 in unrestricted monthly payments to 180 randomly selected households.
The county received over 2,400 submissions during the application period from Sept. 23 to Oct. 3, 2023. The participants were then chosen by the Fairfax County Department of Family Services, which also provided information about community and county resources to people who weren’t selected.
While the pilot eases financial pressure for working families who earn too much to qualify for traditional aid programs like TANF or SNAP, the main goal is to see how guaranteed income can fit into the county’s existing support systems and shape future policies, says retiring Chief Equity Officer Karla Bruce.
“We know that guaranteed income works,” she told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors during a health and human services committee meeting on Tuesday (Oct. 15). “What we wanted to know is, how does it fit within the array of supports in Fairfax County?”
Bruce noted that George Mason University is leading research on the program’s impact, looking at considerations like family mobility, social connections, and potential changes to county policy.
The final report, which is set to be completed by next fall, will identify ways county officials can better support the 23% of Fairfax residents who are employed but struggle with the high cost of living.
According to a 2022 report from the nonprofit United for ALICE, a family of four in Fairfax County needs $8,706 per month — or $104,472 annually — to cover basic expenses like rent, utilities, child care, food, transportation and health care.
Meanwhile, the federal poverty line — which determines eligibility for public assistance programs — is set at $13,590 for a single adult and $27,750 for a family of four.
During her presentation, Bruce highlighted that most participants — who all have at least one child under 16 — in the pilot are women (58%), primarily between the ages of 30 and 49.
Regarding race and ethnicity, 40% of participants identify as Hispanic or Latino, 25% as Black, and 13% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Smaller portions identify as Middle Eastern or North African (5%) and non-Hispanic white (7%).
Almost a third of participants (31%) just have a high school diploma or an equivalent certification, 19% hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, and the remainder have some college or an associate’s degree.
The pilot largely serves residents in areas like Mount Vernon, Bailey’s Crossroads and Annandale, communities targeted for their higher levels of economic need.
Researchers from GMU’s Center for Social Science Research are still collecting data from the pilot, and no specific policy recommendations have been drafted yet. But Bruce said the county is hopeful the final results will provide valuable guidance for future policy decisions.
“We see this as a way to really challenge how we deliver human services and how we understand who is in need of support in our community,” Bruce said. “So, it’s really challenging the status quo of our existing human services system and encouraging us … to, together, look at how the systems were working, but also look at some of the limitations in terms of how the system is designed to support the needs of our community.”
While board members stressed the importance of helping middle-income residents struggling to afford basic necessities, they clarified that any policy proposals resulting from the study won’t expand the pilot to include more participants. Instead, they’ll focus on targeted interventions using existing resources to better meet residents’ needs.
“To sustain a program like this in perpetuity would be very difficult,” Board Chair Jeff McKay said. “So, then where do you land? Where do you take what we’ve learned here? Where have other jurisdictions taken what they’ve learned through this program and transformed their system to make sure that this population of people doesn’t stay caught in a system that’s not meeting their needs today?”
Photo via Sharon McCutcheon/Unsplash
