April 9 Events Recap: Spotlight Guaranteed Income and Policy Innovation

On April 9th, the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice hosted two powerful events centered on advancing economic mobility. 

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In the morning, the Crown Family School partnered with the City Club of Chicago for a public forum on Strategies to Alleviate Poverty in Cook County and Beyond, featuring Michael Tubbs, Special Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility; Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board President; Margaret Thomas, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Crown Family School moderated by Ameya Pawar, AM '16, CEO of the Michael Reese Health Trust  The discussion explored evidence-based strategies to reduce poverty through policy and practice. 

In the evening, the Crown Family School hosted a dynamic panel discussion with Tubbs, executive producer of the documentary film that was screened with Thomas, Preckwinkle, and  Nakita Smith, Jr., a guaranteed income recipient,  in Edith Abbott Hall

Local community members, students, faculty, and staff gathered at the Crown Family School for a special screening of It’s Basic, in Edith Abbott Hall early in April. The film explores the impact of guaranteed income pilot programs across the United States and was executive produced by Michael Tubbs, Special Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility. 

Several cities including St. Paul, Minn., Cambridge, Mass., Newark, New Jersey, Gainsville, Fla., and Los Angeles, Calif., were shown instituting initiatives where everyday people received $500 to $1,000 monthly—no strings attached—as a means of advancing economic mobility, alleviating poverty, and enhancing financial stability. 

The film screening drew a full house of attendees to Edith Abbott Hall eager to learn about the pilot programs and engage with each other to discuss the topic of direct cash assistance as a poverty policy solution. Directly following the film, a dynamic panel discussion brought deeper context to the documentary’s themes and a local perspective through real-life experiences with starting the initiative in Cook County, where the $42 million project, known as the Promise Pilot, was the largest of its kind.  

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The panel, moderated by Michael Tubbs, featured speakers with different experiences within the  Promise Pilot program including policy development and implementation, researching the pilot’s effects on hardship, and a local pilot program participant shared their perspective.

Toni Preckwinkle, President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners; Margaret M.C. Thomas, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice; and Nakita Smith, Jr. a local guaranteed income program participant, all shared their unique insights and experiences with the program designed to curb poverty. 

During the panel discussion Professor Thomas emphasized the importance of capturing key outcomes of the program and understanding how it would benefit recipients in the long-term. Ultimately, policy should be shaped by research, Thomas said as she continues to study the effects of guaranteed income on hardship and wellbeing. 

Smith described the positive impact the program had on his social well-being and how it created a feeling of economic stability. It allowed him to do some things more economically secure families might take for granted, such as getting his car fixed and having a birthday party for his son.   

In Cook County, the Promise Pilot initiative distributed funds over two years in the form of $500 monthly checks to 3,250 households, half of which earned $21,000 or less annually. And just a day before the screening at the Crown Family School Preckwinkle announced the formation of an advisory committee to guide the county’s next phase of guaranteed income programming. 

During the panel discussion Preckwinkle spoke about local efforts to address income inequality and called some of the promising early results of the program’s ability to help establish healthy and stable lives. 

While moderating Tubbs provided firsthand accounts of leading one of the first guaranteed income pilots in the country as the former mayor of Stockton, Calif. He expressed there are misconceptions about the program and the people that could benefit from it.  

“Oftentimes when talking about Guaranteed Income (people) think it's about something for other people,” Tubbs said, in an effort to distance themselves from need.  “But this is about you and your family, and ensuring that you and your family have not just enough to survive, but to also thrive.” 

Tubbs said, he hopes that by hosting the screening events in different cities the conversation will continue and community members will become supportive of the program. The event illuminated the transformative potential of direct cash assistance but also sparked meaningful dialogue about policy, equity, and the role of community support.