Phoenix City Council Approves $12 Million to Help Local Families

Phoenix-- The Phoenix City Council gave final approval to the Financial Assistance for Phoenix Families Program which will provide a $1,000 stipend to 1,000 local families with children for up to 12 months beginning in January 2022.

The plan will help aid low-income families that were impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Residents that are having difficulty paying for clothing, groceries, transportation, and housing among other basic household necessities would be considered for this benefit.

“Over the last couple of months throughout this pandemic, many low-income families in Phoenix and across the country have been forced to play a balancing act of having to choose between rent, buying groceries or having affordable child care options,” City Manager Jeff Barton said.

Eligible households will be screened, including families that have previously applied for the Emergency Response Assistance program, residents of city-owned public housing as well as Section 8 voucher holders. A lottery system will aid in the selection process for the program from the pool of applicants.

The financial assistance is part of the America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and will be limited to households which can include childcare, food and transportation among other needs. Funding will be distributed through debit cards, possibly from Chase Bank, which will allow the city to monitor spending and provide a prompt report of expenditures to the federal government.

“I am really excited; I think that this is definitely something we need. We've seen a lot of cities across the country doing this direct assistance. I am glad that we will be joining them and giving money directly to folks,” Vice Mayor Carlos Garcia said. “If they do have child care needs or need to get medicine, people know best what their needs are and I am excited to be supporting the program.”

Households must be at 80% Area Median Income, which for a family of four is $63,200. Participants will receive the funds with a few limitations; such as no alcohol, tobacco, or lottery tickets. The debit card will be declined for the attempt of such purchases. Residents must also agree to allow general purchasing information to be shared with the City of Phoenix to track and report the progress of the program, as was encouraged by the U.S. Treasury.

“Individuals have to be looking for a job and they have to show proof of it, otherwise you’re just giving out a thousand bucks and I wouldn’t be supportive of that.” Councilman Sal DiCiccio said. “We could put in some requirements there which allow us to be able to monitor their progress and get some sort of expectation otherwise it just becomes a handout, it just becomes a giveaway.”

Cities across the country are also planning to use ARPA funding to provide a fixed monthly amount to qualified residents in order to provide greater financial stability in their communities. Los Angeles has already allocated $16.3 million to programs that will aid 1,000 of its residents with up to $1,000 a month for three years. Chicago proposed a similar program which would help 5,000 of its residents to receive $500 a month for a year.

The Financial Assistance for Phoenix Families Program is expected to help low-income families and people of color who have been widely affected by the pandemic.

“We can do so much good with the ARPA dollars and we’re really trying to meet our community needs,” Mayor Kate Gallego said. “I’m hoping that we are able to show intergenerational success that we’ve helped families get to a better place economically in the long term and not just as we get out of COVID.”

Transparency is also at the forefront of the ARPA funds and a new website was developed to help residents understand what resources are available to them and provide insight on the distribution of funding. The website includes a summary of the strategic plan, total budget, actual spending, performance measurements as well as other assistance program links.

Residents can visit https://stories.opengov.com/phoenixaz/published/9tz_vAiwC for more information.