Despite a massive budget shortfall, California will increase spending on financial aid for foster youth attending California colleges, and offer more housing support to young adults who live in high-cost areas of the state and are aging out of the child welfare system.
After recent years of budget surpluses, in May Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) projected a deficit of nearly $32 billion, due in large part to a downturn in the stock market — which in turn lowered state revenue from income taxes. The revenue picture was further complicated this year by mass extensions on tax filings to aid residents impacted by winter storms. This year, state taxes are not due in California until Oct. 16.
Still, amid significant cuts to other social programs, the governor and state lawmakers have agreed to make several key investments in foster youth in the $310 billion spending plan signed last week.
“I want to thank the Legislature for their hard work on a budget that prioritizes the needs of Californians while keeping the state on strong economic footing,” Newsom said in a press release.
Debt-free college
The newly minted budget will provide foster youth with access to debt-free post-secondary education at any of the state’s public higher education institutions, including schools in the University of California, California State University, and California Community College systems. The state will invest $5.2 million in the coming fiscal year toward the benefit, augmenting an existing scholarship fund with increased access for foster youth.
“These additional funds will be a game changer for many students.”
— Debbie Raucher, John Burton Advocates for Youth
The financial aid will be available to young people who were in foster care after their 13th birthdays and are pursuing bachelor’s degrees, which are now available at California community colleges. Students will still be required to fulfill the scholarship program’s “self-help obligation,” meaning they must contribute $7,898 to their school costs before the remaining unmet need is covered.
The new California budget includes $14 million for the Student Success Completion Grant, allowing current and former foster youth who attend community college to receive up to $10,500 annually. This is a sizable increase from current annual awards, which have been limited to $2,596 per year for students taking 12 units and $8,000 for those carrying 15 units.
“With financial challenges being cited repeatedly by students with experience in foster care as the greatest barrier to college completion, these additional funds will be a game changer for many students,” said Debbie Raucher, director of education for the nonprofit John Burton Advocates for Youth. “Whether a student is facing housing instability, food insecurity, challenges obtaining childcare, or needing to work to ensure their basic needs are met, these additional resources will allow them to focus full time on their studies.”
Housing help
On the housing front, a bill to increase rent payments for young adults in extended foster care failed to make it through the Legislature, but was revived in the budget by San Francisco Democrat Assemblymember Phil Ting, who chairs the Assembly Budget Committee.
In an effort to combat the high rate of homelessness among young adults in extended foster care, state funds will soon cover a new supplement to the allowance for Supervised Independent Living Placements. This housing option, referred to as a SILP, provides 18- to 21-year-olds with a stipend for rent and other living expenses such as food and utilities. The youth find and secure their own living arrangements, which can be apartments with or without roommates, college dorms or rented rooms, but they must be inspected and approved by social workers.
The arrangements — relied upon by roughly 40% of these older foster youth — gives the young people financial support and a measure of independence as they enter adulthood.
But SILP payments have failed to keep up with the cost of living. Currently, SILP participants receive $1,129 each month regardless of where in the state they live. That number has only increased by 41% over the past decade, failing to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of rent in most parts of the state during that time.
“Other youth have their families, but we don’t have that.”
— Christina Torrez, formerly in extended foster care
“The end result for many youth,” Ting’s office noted, “is a cycle of homelessness and falling deeper into poverty.”
Under the new budget, those supplements will be determined by the fair market rent in each county, providing higher stipends for young people living in high-cost regions. The supplements in Los Angeles and San Francisco counties will be $772.30 and $1,255.30 respectively. In rural Modoc County, it will be $77.30.
Roughly half of all foster youth in California experience at least one bout of homelessness between the ages of 18 and 21, and a third face multiple episodes of homelessness, according to researchers at Chapin Hall, based at the University of Chicago, who have tracked this demographic group for years.
In a report published by the John Burton Advocates for Youth, former foster youth Christina Torrez described struggling with homelessness in extended foster care, and noted that higher payments could have saved her anguish in that period — allowing her to pay rent and keep her lights on, and maybe even save up a bit of an emergency fund.
“It’ll allow them to have a fall-back,” Torrez said. “Other youth have their families, but we don’t have that.”
The supplement amount will vary based on the county, accounting for the vastly higher cost of living in some parts of the state, like Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
The stipend increases will cost the state almost $19 million a year beginning in fiscal year 2025-26.
