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.
Fairfax County was the only locality in the D.C. area where homelessness declined last year, decreasing by 2% from 1,310 individuals to 1,278, according to a new report.
County officials stated in the report, which was published last week by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), that the decrease is primarily due to fewer families residing in shelters and temporary housing provided by the county.
Finding sufficient, quality food remains a challenge for many people across the D.C. area, even with the immediate economic disruptions triggered by the pandemic in the rear view mirror, the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) says in a new report.
Released last month, the nonprofit’s 2023 Hunger Report found that the region is still seeing elevated levels of food insecurity that are nearly identical to what was reported a year earlier. In Fairfax County, 24% of residents are food insecure — the exact same percentage as in 2022.
This fall, Fairfax County will launch a guaranteed income pilot program, following in the footsteps of neighbors including Arlington County and Alexandria.
The upcoming Fairfax County Economic Mobility Pilot (FCEMP) will begin providing families with monthly payments totaling $2 million to “promote economic stability and social capital,” according to a press release.
Soon, Tysons Corner Center visitors will be able to access the internet for free, check out a library book and learn how to prepare for college or a career all from the same room.
After closing at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fairfax County’s Community Services Room at the mall will reopen on Saturday (July 29) with an expanded array of services.
Fairfax County’s child welfare system has seen abuse and neglect cases surge over the past year, taxing the dozens of volunteers charged with advocating for those children in foster care and court.
As of May, over 188 new kids have been placed in foster care or under a protective court order since July 1, 2022 — nearly double the 98 cases added the previous year, according to Fairfax CASA, a nonprofit that trains and supervises volunteer, court-appointed special advocates for children.
Prior to the pandemic, Fairfax County had the highest amount of food insecurity in the state. Now, some advocates say that number has more doubled.
According to the Fairfax Food Council and other county and local advocates, food insecurity remains a growing challenge for moderate-income families in what is a high cost-of-living area.
A pilot program that will give monthly cash assistance to select low-income residents is in development in Fairfax County.
While eligibility criteria, payment amounts, and other details are still being determined, the county has allocated $1.5 million to the effort from its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, as noted in a stimulus update to the Board of Supervisors’ budget policy committee yesterday (Tuesday).
