GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Prison Policy Initiative expressed support in a briefing released Friday, April 10, for a guaranteed income program for formerly incarcerated people in Alachua County, Florida, calling on policymakers and advocates to adopt similar cash assistance models nationwide.
According to the report, preexisting financial hardships and joblessness, along with hefty fines and fees after release, remain barriers to successful reentry and reduced recidivism for people returning from prison.
Community Spring’s Just Income Project, based in Alachua County, works to help people reenter their communities and workplaces through financial support. The program offers eligible returning citizens $800 per month for one year with no restrictions or strings attached, allowing recipients to “put the money where it’s needed most at any given time,” according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
The briefing states that the Florida-based program offers cash assistance to anyone in the county who has “been released from a prison or jail or [has] started probation in the previous year,” providing intentionally broad eligibility criteria to maximize support.
“Unemployment is highest within the first two years of release, so financial assistance can make the biggest impact in the early part of reentry,” the Prison Policy Initiative said. “Notably, these struggles are disproportionately imposed on Black Americans, who are overrepresented in the country’s correctional facilities […].”
In their pilot study assessing participant outcomes, researchers for the Just Income Project compared the outcomes of individuals who received cash assistance to those who did not. Participants receiving cash assistance were given $1,000 for their first month and $600 per month for the rest of the year.
The results of the study indicate that the cash assistance program reduced rates of recidivism among formerly imprisoned people, with just 28% of financially supported participants returning to jail compared with 40% of unsupported participants, according to the briefing.
Participants expressed in interviews that “the guaranteed income program saved them from having to turn to crimes of survival or other criminalized activities to cover basic needs,” resulting in the difference between groups, the Prison Policy Initiative said.
The benefits of the program extended beyond desistance, according to the briefing. Data showed that guaranteed income enabled returning citizens to become financial contributors to their households and maintain full-time employment, outperforming those in the unassisted control group.
According to the report, financially assisted participants also demonstrated markedly reduced feelings of stress and helplessness after release, giving them “higher hopes for the future” and interrupting the “downward spiral of poverty, stress, substance use, and recidivism.”
In states like Florida, incarcerating a single person can cost the government up to $41,000. The Prison Policy Initiative emphasizes that the benefits of programs like the Just Income Project extend beyond reintegrating individuals, ultimately saving taxpayer money by reducing rates of re-arrest.
“For every 100 people in the study, those payments led to 12 fewer people being reincarcerated,” the briefing said. “By conservative estimate, that averages out to a net gain for taxpayers of over $13,000 per person in the program.”
Given the positive outcomes of the pilot study, Community Spring has encouraged leaders nationwide to roll out similar programs with the help of its consulting team, according to the report. Very few initiatives like Just Income exist in the U.S., highlighting an area for growth in advocating for formerly incarcerated individuals.
“Everyone deserves a fair shot at reintegrating into society, securing high-quality employment, and contributing to their communities,” the report said. “Just a little money every month can be the first step in achieving that goal.”
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