SAN FRANCISCO
(KRON) — Mayor London Breed announced the launch of a new guaranteed income program for San Francisco’s trans community. The Guaranteed Income for Trans People program will provide low-income transgender San Franciscans with
$1,200 each month, for up to 18 months, to help address financial insecurity within trans communities, Breed revealed Wednesday.
The pilot program is the first guaranteed income initiative to focus solely on trans people, and
will provide regular, unconditional cash transfers to individuals or households who qualify, according to the Mayor’s Office. This differs from other social safety net practices by providing a steady, predictable stream of cash to recipients to spend as they see fit without limitations.
The GIFT program
will provide eligible trans individuals with temporary income and a range of wrap-around
direct services, such as gender affirming medical and mental health care, as well as financial coaching, according to the Mayor’s Office.
The city will accept applications from November 15 through December 15.
“Our Guaranteed Income Programs allow us to help our residents when they need it most as part of our city’s economic recovery and our commitment to creating a more just city for all,” Breed said. “We know that our trans communities experience much higher rates of poverty and discrimination, so this program will target support to lift individuals in this community up.”
GIFT is one of several programs the city is developing and implementing to support San Francisco residents and promote economic stability and recovery.
In 2015, when the U.S. Trans Survey was last conducted, 33% of trans Californians were living in poverty, compared to 12% of people in the general population.
“Even with our rich history of trans advocacy, we see that trans San Franciscans experience poverty at exponentially higher rates compared to the general population,” said
Pau Crego, Executive Director of the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives.