June 26th 2023.
Mothers Outreach Network, a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C., has recently launched an initiative to provide "no strings attached" financial assistance to mothers with children in the child welfare system. This locally funded basic income program will provide an additional $500 a month to the recipients.
The program is different from other traditional financial support programs such as SNAP and TANF, in that it does not require any work requirements. The goal is to include 50 mothers in the soft launch, who will receive the monthly payments for a three-year period.
The vision of this program is to provide families with the means to prevent their involvement in the system, and to address their needs in a meaningful way. Melody Webb, co-founder of Mothers Outreach Network, expresses this sentiment when she says, “It’s intended to give families the support that they need to stay together to prevent their involvement in the system, but also to address the real needs that they have.”
The program is primarily supported by a locally sourced pool, and its facilitators plan for it to eventually lead to a governmental installation. Mothers Outreach Network has gathered data from across the country, which has shown that poverty, not bad parenting, is a dominant factor for removing children from their homes and families.
Webb is focused on providing financial cushion to Black mothers involved in the system, as they are typically non-White, with the majority in D.C. being Black, and these families are usually poor or working class. Through the success of this program, Webb hopes to dismantle the false notion that poverty is anyone’s fault or that financial troubles should separate families. As of June 2022, five mothers are currently receiving the payments, and more mothers will be added to the first cohort in the upcoming months.
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