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San Mateo County is rolling out its first guaranteed income program to combat poverty in foster youth.
“Foster youth face so many challenges that most of us cannot imagine,” said county Supervisor David J. Canepa about the new proposal that will provide both current and former foster youth from ages 18 to 22 with $1,000 a month.
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors passed the program on July 11, which sponsored by Canepa and Supervisor Noelia Corzo. The “San Mateo County Guaranteed Income Pilot Program for Transitional Age Foster Youth” identified about 70 eligible youth that will be receiving direct deposit for up to 18 months in the county’s first-ever use of a guaranteed income program.
The vote was 4-0, with District 3 Supervisor Ray Mueller absent. In a statement to The Almanac, Mueller expressed his support for the program.
“We have a duty, especially in high-cost-of-living San Mateo County, to ensure our foster youth avoid homelessness and have the tools to become financially and emotionally independent as they age out of the system,” he said.
The goal of the program is to aid foster youth, who have higher rates of homelessness and poverty. According to the National Foster Youth Institute, about 50% of homeless individuals nationwide have spent time in foster care.
“We as a community want to help these young adults finish high school and go on to college or trades programs without so much of the crushing burden of making ends meet in a county with such a high cost of living,” Canepa said.
The money has no spending restrictions giving eligible young adults the freedom to decide where they spend it, whether it be on housing, transportation, education or other needs.
The first direct deposit payments are set to start around the first of the new year. The program is designed as a pilot to test the benefits of a guaranteed income program.
Results of the program will be compared to local, state and national outcomes for foster youth, particularly in terms of high school graduation rates, higher education, employment rates and housing stability.
Santa Clara County has previously enacted a similar program in 2020 that would provide $1,000 a month for former foster youth aged 24 or older.
Supervisors voted to allocate $732,000 in local Measure K funds toward the $2 million pilot project. The rest is funds from the Human Services Agency reserved for youth programs and $100,000 from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
This is great news! Hoping programs like these are as successful as possible and spread even further. The kind of reporting we need ????