Senator Cortese and Santa Clara Supervisor Susan Ellenberg Announce Guaranteed Income Program for Homeless High Schoolers
Senator Dave Cortese joined Santa Clara County Board President Susan Ellenberg on Friday to announce the launch of a new Guaranteed Income Pilot Program for Unhoused High School Students, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at providing crucial support to students experiencing homelessness in Santa Clara County. The $3 million program, which will launch in summer 2024, seeks to break the cycle of poverty by offering short-term monthly payments to help unhoused students exiting high school make the transition into college or a promising career.
Approximately 270,000 students within California's K-12 school system are experiencing homelessness, a number that has grown by half over the past decade, according to a 2020 report. Among these students, approximately 15,000 are in their 12th grade. Without support, many of them face uncertain futures upon graduating high school. In Santa Clara County alone, approximately 2,500 students are experiencing homelessness.
“How can we, in good conscience, graduate all these young Californians into a life on the streets each year,” said Senator Cortese (D-San Jose). “This program is a guarantee of income, but it can also be a guarantee of upward mobility. This not only benefits the grant recipient, but eventually creates a legacy of prosperity for their children and future generations.”
This countywide pilot program has been made possible through a partnership with Santa Clara County Board President and District 4 Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, a founding member of Counties for a Guaranteed Income. In partnership with D2 Supervisor Cindy Chavez, Supervisor Ellenberg is also spearheading a guaranteed income program for formerly-incarcerated people, which was unanimously supported by her board colleagues in May.
“The data being published nearly every week is painting a clear picture of who actually makes up our unhoused population,” said Board President Susan Ellenberg (County District 4). “This rise in unhoused students, along with the rise in unhoused families in California – and yes, in Santa Clara County - is unacceptable. Guaranteed income pilots around the country are an obvious solution that works – they stabilize our community and support their efforts out of poverty. What are we waiting for?”
The Guaranteed Income Pilot Program for Unhoused High School Students was made possible through a $3 million allocation initiated by Senator Cortese of in the State Budget Act of 2023. The program, which launches in summer 2024, will support 50 homeless students with a monthly stipend of $1,200 to help them transition into college or a career. Grant recipients will have access to various lines of support including financial mentors and peer mentors.
The countywide program announced Friday is modeled after Senator Cortese’s Senate Bill (SB) 333, known as the California Success, Opportunity, and Academic Resilience (CalSOAR) Guaranteed Income Program. Once SB 333 is enacted, it will incorporate the best practices and lessons learned from the countywide pilot program.
In 2020, Senator Cortese, then a Santa Clara County Supervisor, spearheaded a guaranteed income program for foster children transitioning into adult life. In 2021, this successful program was scaled statewide under Senator Cortese’s SB 739. The bill was incorporated into the 2021-22 state budget as an historic $35 million investment to launch the “California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program”. The first grants from this state program were awarded by the state Department of Social Services in Nov. 2022.
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