Uplift Harris (later renamed the Harris County Community Prosperity Program)
Uplift Harris was a Harris County (Houston, TX) guaranteed income pilot funded by $20.5 million in federal ARPA dollars, intended to give 1,928 low-income households in the county's 10 poorest ZIP codes $500/month for 18 months, no strings attached. It was administered by Harris County Public Health with GiveDirectly and tech/payments partner AidKit, and evaluated by Elite Research. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued in April 2024 arguing the program violated the Texas Constitution's 'Gift Clause,' and the Texas Supreme Court blocked all payments; a revised, more-conditional version (Community Prosperity Program) was also sued and blocked. In June 2025 Harris County officially ended the program and reallocated the remaining funds — no participant ever received a payment.
Largest planned US guaranteed income pilot, ARPA-funded, blocked by Texas Attorney General lawsuit, Texas Supreme Court 'Gift Clause' ruling, zero payments ever disbursed, program terminated mid-launch
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Harris County Public Health (Office of Planning Innovation)
- City
- Houston
- State / Province
- Texas
- Country
- United States
Contact
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Number of recipients
- 1,928
- Funding type
- Government, Research Pilot
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 9,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 500 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 18 months
- Distribution Type
- Direct Deposit, Debit Card
- Benefit details
As designed, selected households were to receive $500/month for 18 months (total $9,000) via direct deposit to a bank account or a prepaid debit card, distributed through tech/payments partner AidKit. In practice, NO payments were ever issued: payments were slated to begin April 2024, but a Texas Attorney General lawsuit led the Texas Supreme Court to block disbursement, and after a revised version (Community Prosperity Program) was also enjoined, Harris County Commissioners Court voted in June 2025 to end the program and redirect the ~$20.5 million ARPA funding to rental assistance, homelessness prevention, and food/nutrition services.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligible applicants had to be Harris County residents, age 18+, with household income at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, residing in one of the county's 10 highest-poverty ZIP codes (77050, 77093, 77051, 77060, 77028, 77033, 77026, 77081, 77547, 77091). Participants were chosen via a two-stage random lottery from eligible applicants in those ZIP codes; a second track allowed referral through the ACCESS Harris County program (social-determinants-of-health care coordination).
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 18
Financial
- Income limit (annual household)
- $62,400
- Income as % of Federal Poverty Level
- 200 %
Geography
- US states covered
- Texas
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- Houston
- Counties covered
- Harris
- ZIP / postal codes covered
- 77050, 77093, 77051, 77060, 77028, 77033, 77026, 77081, 77547, 77091
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Required
- Complementary program enrollment required
- ACCESS Harris County (referral/care-coordination track)
- Research / participation requirements
Elite Research served as the program's evaluation partner and conducted baseline surveys (an RCT Baseline Report covering the randomly-selected ZIP-code cohort and an ACCESS Baseline Report covering the referral-track cohort) intended to measure impacts on financial and health outcomes; ongoing research participation would have been part of the pilot design had disbursements begun.
Application Process
- How to apply
Applications were accepted online (via AidKit) from January 12, 2024 through February 2, 2024, receiving over 82,500 applications (about 57,500 from the 10 eligible ZIP codes). Selected households were later notified of award via a randomized lottery. The application period is permanently closed; the program itself was terminated in June 2025.
- Selection process
Two-stage random lottery: applicants from the 10 eligible high-poverty ZIP codes were randomly drawn to advance, then a final randomized selection produced 1,928 award recipients; a parallel referral track selected participants through ACCESS Harris County. Selected participants were publicly notified starting February/March 2024, but no funds were ever released to them.
