The Free Press
· collected 2026-09-09 · by P.G. Sittenfeld
Kevin Scott, a Gainesville, Florida-based nonprofit leader, gives approximately $1.3 million annually to 172 ex-convicts as part of a guaranteed income program, with each recipient receiving nearly $10,000 over a year. The initiative has been met with mixed reactions, with some arguing it helps pull people out of poverty and others calling it "welfare for able-bodied adults." There are currently around 70 pilot programs like this across the country, according to one study. Jennifer Webb-McRae, president of the National District Attorneys Association, expresses skepticism about the program's effectiveness in improving public safety outcomes.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Gainesville, Florida-based nonprofit has been giving $1.3 million in total to 172 men and women who were recently released from prison, providing each with $8,000 over the course of a year. The recipients can use the money as they see fit, without any restrictions or requirements. This program is part of a broader trend of 70 pilot guaranteed income programs across the country, which have been proposed for centuries but continue to be debated by proponents and opponents. Some argue that these programs help people escape poverty, while others call them "welfare for able-bodied adults with no strings attached." Jennifer Webb-McRae, president of the National District Attorneys Association, expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of such programs in improving public safety outcomes.
Written for “Reentry Job Training Programs” on 2026-09-09,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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Leaning score -0.35 for article 7338 (medium confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-09-09
Kevin Scott gives money away.
asserted
Scott → give → money
Recipients can do whatever they want with the no-strings-attached $800 they receive each month.
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they → do → 800
The money is doled out over the course of a year, meaning the participants get nearly $10,000 by the time the spigot is turned off.
asserted
spigot → dole → time
So far, Scott and the initiative he leads on behalf of a Gainesville, Florida–based nonprofit have given away a total of $1.3 million to 172 men and women.
asserted
he → lead → men
They all have one thing in common: They were recently released from prison.
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They → have → prison
Guaranteed income programs have been proposed for centuries—from Thomas More to Thomas Paine to Martin Luther King Jr. to Sam Altman—and have been fiercely debated across the centuries, too.
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programs → propose → centuries
According to one study, there are currently 70 pilot programs of various kinds across the country, with proponents arguing that they help pull people out of poverty.
uncertain
they → accord → poverty
Opponents say they amount to “welfare for able-bodied adults with no strings attached.”
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they → say → strings
It is thus unsurprising that a program involving unrestricted cash for convicted criminals would elicit mixed reactions.
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program → involve → reactions
“The jury is still out on whether they produce better public safety outcomes than. . . mental health services [and] job training,” Jennifer Webb-McRae, president of the National District Attorneys Association, told me recently.
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McRae → produce → me
