Families in California who are recipients of a guaranteed income program are set to receive their next payment on Wednesday.

The Pathway to Income Equity pilot program selected 305 out of 6,450 applicants in Sonoma County to receive $500 every month. To be eligible, applicants had to have at least one child under age 6, be affected in some way by the coronavirus pandemic, and have a household income of no more than 185% above the federal poverty level, according to the Sonoma County Administrator's Office.

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"These payments will help families with young children who are often struggling under the double burden of the high costs of housing and child care — typically the two highest household expenses," Chris Coursey, the chairman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, said. "The information we gain from this pilot program will help shape future efforts to improve the health and welfare of our community."

Sonoma County officials will study what effect this additional monthly income has on reducing poverty and promoting economic mobility for families with young children, according to the administrator's office.

"Most of our selected recipients are already working — many working more than one job or more than 40 hours a week just to survive," Angie Dillon-Shore, the director of the nonprofit group First 5 Sonoma County, said. "This extra income will allow them to spend more time with their families, find a better job, or improve their financial well-being, resulting in better outcomes for their kids."

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Officials said the payments are delivered on the third Wednesday of each month. The final payment for this program will be issued on December 2024.

The program accepted applications for the payments last year, of which officials said that 2,383 met the eligibility requirements. The application period was from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31.