This is no spooky trick: Salem is the latest Massachusetts city to jump into the fray of providing guaranteed income to residents who will get to spend that money “however they want.”

Officials in the Witch City are launching Uplift Salem, a pilot that will be handing out $500 monthly payments to 100 residents for a year, joining the ranks of other progressive Bay State cities that have experimented with such programs.

The program is meant to “help directly address poverty in our community,” Mayor Dominick Pangallo said in a release on Tuesday.

Cambridge, Somerville and Chelsea have all launched a guaranteed income program over the past few years in the recovery from the pandemic.

“We want Salem to be an affordable place for everyone, and a guaranteed income program offers an innovative approach to help achieve that goal,” Pangallo said in a statement. “Hopefully, the outcome of this year-long effort will be to add to the momentum for greater state and federal support for these programs and, most importantly, to lift up some of our most vulnerable neighbors here in Salem.”

Officials have their hands tied with how long they can roll out the program because its main funding source, the federal American Rescue Plan Act, runs out at the end of 2026.

The $685,000 pilot is also being funded through a private contribution via UpTogether, a national nonprofit that helps coordinate guaranteed income programs across the country.

Not every resident will be eligible to participate in the program. It is restricted to those who live in the city or are unhoused but spend the majority of their time in Salem and have household or family incomes at or below 100% of the federal poverty level based on household size.

Participants will be “randomly selected” for eligible applications, and officials expect first payments to be delivered by Dec. 1.

“We know guaranteed income works to help families achieve economic mobility,” UpTogether CEO Jesús Gerena said in a statement. “They know what’s best for their families and can be trusted to make decisions that move them ahead.”

Two faculty researchers from Salem State University will be evaluating the effectiveness of the program on the 100 participants and a “comparison group” of another 100 individuals. Both groups will be compensated for participating.

In Cambridge, researchers found that a monthly payment of $500 to 130 families for 18 months yielded “significant improvements in financial health, higher rates of employment, increased time and space for parenting, and improved educational outcomes for children.”

That program preceded an expanded iteration in which Cambridge officials are investing $22 million in ARPA funds into reaching 2,000 families living at or below 250% of the federal poverty line.

Somerville launched its program in July, providing $750 monthly payments for expenses that participants “identify themselves.”

For the Salem program, applications will be open starting Oct. 28 and will remain open for two weeks or until 350 eligible applications have been received.

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