Albuquerque expands basic income program with trauma, addiction support

Albuquerque added 20 more young people to its guaranteed-income experiment, widening a $750-a-month program that now pairs cash with trauma and addiction services through the Trauma Recovery Center. The expansion targets residents ages 16 to 24 to interrupt the instability that can push young people toward crime, substance abuse and long-term poverty.

The program was first approved in March 2025, when the City Council set aside $4.02 million for the Guaranteed Income Initiative, including just over $2 million in city cannabis-tax revenue. The first cohort was designed for 80 households in the International District and West Side and Southwest Albuquerque, areas with some of the lowest academic outcomes and highest chronic absenteeism at Carlos Rey Elementary School and Whittier Elementary School. The Office of Equity and Inclusion runs the effort through the Cannabis Equity and Community Reinvestment Fund, and the monthly payments are set to continue for up to three years.

The new youth expansion came alongside a separate June 26 contract worth up to $600,000 for Albuquerque Community Safety and Youth Development Inc. to provide cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma recovery support and case management through the Trauma Recovery Center. The center serves as the headquarters of ACS’s Violence Intervention Program and reaches victims of violence who are least likely to get services, with outreach, advocacy, mental health support and case management built into the model.

As of May, 59 families had been receiving the $750 monthly payment since April 2025, and the city expanded the effort in December 2025 to 42 recipients ages 16 to 24. At least three families had become homeowners by late May, participating households saw a 26 percent increase in savings, and 45 percent felt secure enough in their financial future to enjoy life more.