Breathe | LA County, CA
Launched in June 2022.
Los Angeles County’s Guaranteed Income pilot project, Breathe, provides recipients the chance to “breathe” easier knowing they are more financially secure. The program provides 1,000 randomly-selected applicants with $1,000 unconditional cash per month for three years. The program adds to the County and other jurisdictions’ understanding of the impacts of guaranteed income on participants’ economic stability, health, and overall well-being, while demonstrating the county's resolute commitment to addressing poverty.
In 2023, Los Angeles County launched an expansion to Breathe with the goal of providing extra breathing room to former Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) foster youth. The Breathe expansion provides $1,000 each month to 200 randomly selected former foster youth for two years. An additional 288 former foster youth were selected to participate in the control group of this study. CGIR will conduct a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) to evaluate this expansion program.