Multnomah County’s universal basic income experiment worked, until the money ran out

Voycetta White, a night auditor at the Best Western Vancouver, had just completed an eight-hour shift at 7 a.m. on a warm August morning. She learned how to be an optician while incarcerated, and she would have to be at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Portland by 8 a.m. for another demanding eight hours of work.

White’s youngest daughter gave a brutal reality check amid the chaos.

According to White, I hurried home, changed, and prepared for my second job. “This is crazy, Mom,” my 13-year-old exclaims. “Are you going to work?” I don’t see you very often. We have bills to pay, so this is what I have to do right now, honey, I said.

White has been working 64 hours a week at two jobs since July in order to provide for her two youngest daughters.

However, things weren’t always like this. As part of Multnomah County’s Mother’s Trust guaranteed income program, she was one of 100 Black mothers and caregivers who earned checks of $500 or more per month in 2021. Black households were disproportionately affected in the years that followed the COVID-19 pandemic, according to officials and scientists, and the pilot was created to lessen the financial burden on them.

According to officials, Mother’s Trust was a component of a broader county initiative known as the Multnomah Idea Lab, which was tasked with testing out novel policy ideas with an emphasis on tackling racism and poverty.

However, Mother’s Trust and the Idea Lab were shut down in July when the county’s American Rescue Plan Act money from the pandemic ran out.

Before it ended, the county’s trial showed results, according to county authorities. According to an interim assessment that examined its first two years, officials discovered that participants increased their overall financial security by using the funds to pay off debts, pay for their children’s sports and educational expenses, and contribute to significant assets like homes and cars.

According to Commissioner Jesse Beason, whose predecessor Susheela Jayapal firmly backed the Mother’s Trust initiative, it was a practical means of assisting a population that frequently faces social obstacles.

According to the findings, Black mothers in particular encounter certain obstacles erected by society, Beason stated. It made perfect sense to start this pilot here, and it was successful.

Seven years at Coffee Creek

The program served as a vital impetus for its members to help them get back on their feet.

White claimed that in 2013, she was involved in a shoplifting attempt that resulted in robbery with three other individuals. White claimed to have been the getaway driver and that she brought herself in after things went wrong because she didn’t see any other way to come back to see her kids. For four charges of second-degree robbery and two acts of first-degree theft, a judge in Multnomah County Circuit Court sentenced the defendant to seven years in prison and three years of post-prison supervision upon release.

She said, “I was devastated.” I was my children’s only provider.

Although it was a huge setback, White claimed she made the most of her incarceration to ensure she would never return. The Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation offers a year-long work-based educational program for jailed women to get licensed as opticians. She obtained her GED, enrolled in seminars intended to assist incarcerated women in reintegrating into society, and started training.

In November 2020, she was released from Coffee Creek Correctional Facility under post-prison supervision after completing her sentence and landing an internship with the charity. When her children were in the care of the Department of Human Services in Washington, she visited them often.

White eventually found permanent housing, took a full-time job with the Lions Foundation, and regained custody of her children in March 2021.

“I felt like I had a second chance and was reborn,” she stated. My life was altered by my incarceration.

The $20,000 she owed for previous court convictions was the biggest obstacle to her newfound prosperity, according to White. White had to support herself and two teenagers while repaying those loans through garnishments after going full-time.

She claimed it looked too good to be true when she received the email with information about the Multnomah Mother’s Trust program in late 2021.

“Yeah, right,” I thought as White spoke. No one will simply give away five hundred dollars.

Under the direction of the nonprofit WomenFirst Transition and Referral Center, she applied and was approved shortly after. White claimed that the county’s guaranteed income program arrived just in time to enable her to concentrate on starting over without having to worry about mounting debt or other financial difficulties.

Monthly payments, no strings attached

It was a fantastic opportunity, according to other program participants.

While completing her associate’s degree and working with the county’s Healthy Birth Initiative to serve women of color and parents, Raven Smith used the money to support her family. She stated she had to quit her job to care for her family, which included three younger children, including a son with autism. That was made feasible by the county program.

Smith stated, “I was able to obtain stability, time for myself, and time to concentrate on my mental health and my children, which are my top priorities.”

Mother’s Trust took a different tack than Measure 118, which was rejected by voters on November 5. By imposing a 3% tax on most firms’ sales in Oregon over $25 million and allocating the funds equally to citizens of all ages, the initiative would have handed $1,600 checks to every Oregonian each year. Some contended that the new tax would raise prices for the same people it was intended to assist, while supporters said it would lessen some of the financial strain on low-income households.

Multnomah County’s program was modeled after comparable initiatives across the country, such as the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot, Mississippi’s Magnolia Mother’s Trust initiative, and California’s Compton Pledge. Every program aimed to improve low-income or communities of color.

According to a 2023 analysis, Multnomah Mother’s Trust did not generate enough data throughout its brief existence to fully comprehend its effects. Increases in net assets, including stocks, retirement money, residences, vehicles, and other investments, were what the county did obtain. According to the research, the program also assisted participants in reducing their debt, with loans and other obligations often dropping by $5,000.

Improvements in housing stability were also discovered by the county’s evaluation. Compared to 5% in 2021, 11% of participants in 2022 said they were at high risk of being evicted.

Impacts and the county s tightened wallet

White had to take a second job after the pandemic-era payments ended. She claimed that although she has few other ways to put food on the table, she rarely gets to spend time with her kids.

“I’ll finally be off of garnishments this year, so I would have liked a little more time,” she said. With both jobs, I’m essentially living paycheck to paycheck.

Smith said she had put her ambitions to start her own nonprofit organization to help the Black community in Portland on hold. When the program ended, she found herself in a difficult financial situation.

I was grateful to have taken part, she said, and I worry a lot about the other moms.

According to county authorities, the effects of the lost federal funding were felt everywhere, taking money away from programs like eviction prevention and rent assistance. The county filled some of those gaps using its general fund its largest pot of discretionary dollars at officials disposal and money from Metro s Supportive Housing Services tax. According to officials, it was insufficient to offset the drop in government money.

According to a statement from the county, the amount of federal emergency assistance we received during COVID merely cannot be reimbursed.

On Tuesday, county Economist Jeff Renfro laid out agrave financial forecastfor the county s 2025-26 budget, with a general fund shortfall of $21 million dollars. That deficit, which is five times higher than the previous year, is a result of declining growth in property tax revenues in Portland and inflationary impacts on wages, Renfro said. Officials expect that deficit to grow as the next Board of Commissioners starts the budgeting process.

Smith said that although the county s financial future is uncertain and more programs may face cuts in the coming year, its short-lived universal basic income experiment should not be forgotten.

We were not lazy, and we did not take the money for granted, Smith said. We did amazing things, all of us. Many of us conquered fears we never thought we would.

Austin De Dios covers Multnomah County politics, programs and more. Reach him at 503-319-9744,[email protected] @AustinDeDios.

Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today toOregonLive.com.