Results coming in from DC’s Strong Families, Strong Future DC Program (2022)

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In January 2022, Democratic Mayor Bowser allocated $1.5 million to a direct cash transfer pilot program called “Strong Families, Strong Future DC” that was intended “to support maternal health and advance economic mobility.” “This program is about supporting new and expectant moms with cash so that they can have the autonomy and flexibility to make the best choices for them and their baby,” Bowser said. The Strong Families, Strong Future DC pilot was at “the heart of our equitable economic recovery strategy,” Bowser added.

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All 132 mothers who participated in the program were able to choose whether to receive monthly payments of $900 or to get $10,800 in a lump sum, which was “a unique feature of D.C.’s pilot,” according to The Washington Post.

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But some of the issues arose when the mothers were uncertain about how to spend the cash.

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One recipient – Canethia Miller – told The Post that she took the money and spent most of it on a lavish trip to Miami. “Some of it I just left alone. The other side is, I wanted to blow it. I wanted to have fun,” Miller said. “[My kids] got to experience something I would never have been able to do if I didn’t have that money.” Miller blew it on a “five-day, $6,000 trip to Miami,” which included “a boat tour [that] exposed them to million-dollar homes and luxury yachts.” “In what she called a rare moment of self-indulgence, Miller spent $180 ahead of the vacation to get her own hair and nails done,” The Post reported. She also took her kids shopping and got them new outfits and toys for the trip.

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Miller seemed to share a similar sentiment when she told The Post, “A lot of communities in my area don’t know the financial gain of credit, saving for your kids; that’s why we’re broke, that’s why we don’t have nothing to pass down or no house to give down. I’m trying to get to the level where I’m passing something down that really matters, so I can be set and my kids can be set, and they don’t need to push so hard like I’m doing now.” Altogether, Miller saved $50 from the program. “She opened up a savings account, aiming to keep at least $50 in it. She used the remaining $4,000 or so from the pilot in a matter of months, mostly on bills and a used car,” The Washington Post reported.

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