Austin Family Stabilization Grant Fund 2025
The Austin Family Stabilization Grant Fund 2025 is a guaranteed income initiative run by the City of Austin's Equity and Inclusion Office with distribution partner UpTogether, providing $1,000 per month in unrestricted cash for 12 months to Travis County families facing economic hardship. It builds on the City's 2022-2023 Guaranteed Income Pilot (135 households) and the 2024-2025 Family Stabilization Grants Fund (160 households), both of which improved housing stability, employment, and food security for participants. Program materials describe this round as reaching 148 additional families, with payments beginning June 2025 and running through June 2026. However, the City's FY2025-2026 budget allocation for the Family Stabilization Grant ($1.3 million) was contingent on a November 2025 tax-rate election and was subsequently cut in an austerity budget, and by April 2026 UpTogether publicly stated it lacked funding to continue the program. Public reporting on a '148 families' cohort consistently describes families who began receiving payments in June 2024 under the prior 2024-2025 fund, raising the possibility this record describes that same cohort rather than a distinct new one.
Guaranteed Income, UpTogether, Successive Cohort, Eastern Crescent, Texas
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- City of Austin Equity and Inclusion Office
- City
- Austin
- State / Province
- Texas
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Number of recipients
- 148
- Funding type
- Government, Philanthropic
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 12,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 1,000 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 12 months
- Distribution Type
- Cash App, Check, Digital/Virtual payment card, Direct deposit, Pre-paid debit card
- Benefit details
Eligible families received $1,000 per month for 12 consecutive months in unrestricted cash with no spending restrictions, distributed by UpTogether via participant-selected methods (direct deposit, prepaid debit card, digital/virtual payment card, Cash App, or paper check). Payments were structured to begin June 2025 and continue through June 2026, mirroring the 12-month format used in prior Austin/UpTogether cohorts. Funding was drawn from both a City of Austin budget allocation and philanthropic support, chiefly St. David's Foundation.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligibility prioritized Travis County households, especially families with dependent children, showing economic hardship such as missing housing or utility payments, household income at or below 80% of Area Median Family Income (AMFI), and residence in historically under-invested 'Eastern Crescent' opportunity zip codes. Consistent with prior rounds, households that already received funds through earlier UpTogether/City of Austin pilots (2021-22 Central Texas Pilot, 2022-23 Austin Guaranteed Income Pilot, and/or the 2024-25 Family Stabilization Grants Fund) were generally excluded so new families could be reached. There was no open public application; enrollment relied on referrals and vetting through community-based partner organizations working with the City's Equity Office and UpTogether.
Family
- Family Status
- Parent, Single Parent
Financial
- Income as % of Area Median Income
- 80 %
Geography
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- Austin
- Counties covered
- Travis
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Optional
- Research / participation requirements
Participants in prior and related UpTogether/City of Austin cohorts were periodically surveyed for impact reporting (e.g., midline and final reports) on fund use and outcomes such as housing stability, food security, and employment; comparable survey participation is presumed but not independently confirmed as mandatory for this specific 2025 round.
Application Process
- How to apply
No open public application process. Eligible households were identified and enrolled through community-based partner organizations working with the City of Austin Equity Office and UpTogether, based on prior program relationships and referrals.
- Selection process
Selection was not through open application. UpTogether and the City of Austin Equity Office partnered with community-based organizations to identify and enroll households meeting economic hardship criteria (income at or below 80% AMFI, missing housing/utility payments, presence of dependents, residence in Eastern Crescent opportunity zip codes, etc.), excluding households already served by prior UpTogether/City of Austin cash pilots.
