According to county authorities, other similar programs that have been implemented in the United States have shown that direct cash assistance offers social and financial benefits for families participants and the community in general.
For that reason, US$20,500,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will be allocated to the Uplift Harris program. with the intention of attacking economic inequality and reducing poverty.
In a first stage, residents within ten zip codes are planned to benefit where the highest poverty rate in the county has been identified. A group considered a priority population will also be included in the ACCESS Program, administered by the Department of Public Health, as indicated on the official website.
The beneficiaries submitted their applications for support at the beginning of 2024 and have been selected at random. They will receive an email message informing them about the details of This benefit is also offered without conditions, with the intention that families can satisfy their basic needs, whether it's paying for rent, food, transportation, utilities, or healthcare.
The county government stated that This program will benefit nearly 2,000 households living below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Likewise, they pointed out that the importance of this responds to the fact that Harris has one of the highest rates of economic inequality in the country, since 16.4 percent of its residents live in poverty. After a first test, the Uplift Harris program could be expandedalthough this will depend on the availability of funds.
Uplift Harris Support in Texas May Never Come
Even though payments are scheduled to begin this month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Harris County to block the implementation of the Uplift Harris program.
In Paxton's view, taxpayer money should be used to promote the public interest, not simply distributed without justifiable reasons for general benefit. He stated in a statement: “I'm suing to stop Harris County officials from abusing public funds.” to obtain political benefits”.
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