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Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe is working to implement a program that would give guaranteed income to formerly incarcerated people in Gainesville following their release.
The Gainesville Sun Editorial Board People who have been incarcerated face challenges to reentering society. Having a criminal record can be a barrier to employment, housing and general acceptance. Difficulties in getting a job and having stability only make recidivism more likely. “What ends up happening is that every sentence becomes a life sentence,” said Lindsay Kallman, executive director of the Gainesville nonprofit Community Spring. Community Spring hires people who are experiencing poverty as “fellows” who develop ways to address factors contributing to poverty in their commun...
The Gainesville Sun Contradictory message “‘We want everyone to vote, but we don’t want anyone to cheat,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said as he “proposed an array of voting changes” supporting legislation already introduced to limit Floridians’ opportunity to vote by mail. Why? Well, according to DeSantis, “We did it right.” Huh? While I wasn’t pleased with the results from Florida in the 2020 election, I am glad to hear that, “We did it right,” a statement largely supported by objective metrics. So why alter a system that works? Perhaps because those metrics also tell us that ...
A pilot program in Gainesville that would be among the first of its kind in the country would pay people who were previously incarcerated a guaranteed monthly income for up to two years to help them get back on their feet. Mayor Lauren Poe said Monday said that the exact dollar amount is not yet determined but there have been discussions about a payment in the $600-a-month range. Poe said he hopes the city can start the program by Oct. 1. The recurring monthly income payment amount and number of people served will depend upon how the program is designed and the overall dollars there are to...
A Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Could Be Coming to Gainesville By Thomas Holton February 8, 2021 $300. No strings attached. That’s what showed up at Latammra Batie’s door in Gainesville in June, in the form of a hand-delivered check. The money went straight toward her rent, calming fears of eviction. Since moving into her new apartment in March, different jobs have come and gone. “By them giving me the rest of my rent money, that really gave me a sense of relief,” Batie said. That money’s gone now, collected by her landlord. Now every new month brings new questions, a search for ...