Getting a library card, going to the dentist, and keeping a job will soon yield up to $6,000 a year in bonus cash under a test program that New York City is trying as part of Mayor Bloomberg's anti-poverty initiative.

About 13,000 families will be eligible for the payments, part of a $50 million program whose details were announced yesterday by the deputy mayor for health and human services, Linda Gibbs.

The idea is to offer payments to encourage behaviors that have been shown to reduce poverty. A library card for an elementary or middle school student will bring his parents $50; a preventive dental visit brings $100 for each family member; and a steady full-time job pays $150 extra a month.

Conditional cash transfers have become a popular anti-poverty experiment in the developing world, but New York City's will be the first American attempt...

A policy analyst at the New America Foundation, Rourke O'Brien, said the proposal's unique blend of direct cash transfers and a commitment to personal responsibility could be broadly appealing...

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