New and pregnant mothers living in some of D.C.'s poorest neighborhoods will receive $900 in monthly cash assistance, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced Thursday.
The $1.5 million pilot program called Strong Families, Strong Futures DC targets those living in Wards 5, 7, and 8. It is being funded by the city and administered by the community organization Martha’s Table. The mayor said 132 people will receive the payments for the pilot’s year-long duration.
“It is expensive to raise a child,” Bowser told reporters outside the Southeast headquarters of Martha’s Table. “The cost of a newborn can grow to about $30,000 a year. To most people that’s a big chunk of money.”
Bowser linked the new initiative to past administration efforts to bolster child-care access across the city.
“This program is about reaching families long before school,” she said.
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Both the city and Martha’s Table have experience with cash assistance programs, which funnel money to recipients without restrictions or strict requirements.
In 2017, the District pioneered a $7,200-a-year rental subsidy program known as D.C. Flex. During the pandemic’s early days, Martha’s Table was among a coalition of nonprofits providing cash assistance to 500 Ward 8 families through a program known as Thrive East of the River. Last December, the organization announced that it would use a $180,000 grant from health insurer Amerigroup DC for cash assistance for 50 new moms in Ward 8.
“Pilots across the country have shown how guaranteed income is a powerful tool to support racial and gender equity,” Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie said at Thursday’s news conference. “Guaranteed income can help struggling households meet their daily needs, avoid or pay down debt, and can improve long-term earning and work opportunities for lower-income workers.”
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Strong Families, Strong Futures DC seeks to create a sturdy financial foundation for mothers during the critical early stages of a child’s life, said Jennifer Porter, executive director of the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives.
"The support and autonomy with initiatives like this cash transfer allows for moms to make decisions that are important to preserving our culture,” Porter said.
To be eligible for the program, a mother living in one of the three wards must also have yearly household earnings below 250 percent of the federal poverty lines. The range of eligibility runs from mothers pregnant in their second or third trimesters to mothers raising a child 3 months or younger.
The families will have access not only to $10,800 in cash assistance over 12 months, but other services provided by the organization, said David Lloyd, deputy chief of programs for Martha’s Table. This will include healthy groceries and help accessing early education programs.
“At Martha’s Table, we believe cash assistance is an efficient, impactful, and transformational way to support family stability at times of extreme vulnerability,” he said. “For families in Wards 5, 7, and 8, this level of unconditional support is absolutely critical.”
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