Ten students at Sacramento State University who were in the foster care system will receive a monthly check for $500 starting in May as part of a new guaranteed income program for former foster youth, the Sacramento Bee reports.
"Too often, students who were in the foster care system lack the financial and emotional support structures that many of their peers take for granted," Sacramento State University President Dr. Luke Wood says in a statement announcing the program.
"This program will alleviate some of the financial burden, allowing our students to focus wholeheartedly on their studies and personal growth."
The United Way Capital Region will fund the year-long pilot program, which follows an earlier Sacramento region program in 2021.
Wood, a former foster child, says he wants Sacramento State to have the largest enrollment of former foster youth in the nation.
Local United Way officials cite a 2020 California Youth Transitions to Adulthood, or CalYOUTH, study that outlines the challenges in clear terms.
One in four former California foster youth surveyed said they were homeless between ages 21 and 23.
An additional 28% said they "couch-surfed."
According to the CalYOUTH study, nearly three in 10 former foster youth attending college would have qualified as food insecure by US Department of Agriculture standards.
"The hope is that this program will
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