California Briefs: State Launches Guaranteed Income Pilot and Reaches Milestone to Improve Education

California Launches State-Funded Guaranteed Income Pilot Programs 

SACRAMENTO —  California just launched the first two state-funded guaranteed income pilot programs – focused on former foster youth. These pilots, through the Department of Social Services, will provide unconditional, individual, regular cash payments intended to disrupt poverty, advance equity and support the basic needs of recipients.

Pilot Program Details

• The State awarded the city and county of San Francisco $3,439,090 to provide 150 former foster youth with $1,200 per month for 18 months.
  
• The State awarded Ventura County Human Services Agency $1,538,758 to provide 150 former foster youth with $1,000 per month for 18 months.

Recipients will also receive benefits counseling to evaluate the impact of guaranteed income payments on their eligibility for various public benefits.

Building On Prior Success

The pilot programs build on the success and lessons learned from prior guaranteed income pilot projects, including an effort launched in Stockton, California. The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration enabled recipients to find full-time employment, reduced income volatility and resulted in recipients showing less depression and anxiety.

California Reaches Milestone in Data System to Improve Education Effectiveness, Equity and Access

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom Nov. 1 announced the state of California’s Cradle-to-Career Data System or C2C reached a pivotal phase in its effort to transform education and workforce development. In October 2023, C2C successfully received its first data installment from data partners and will now integrate more than 1 billion data points that have been collected and validated at the state level. C2C’s integration of data will provide the public, researchers, and lawmakers unprecedented insight that could improve education and quality of life for millions of Californians.

Taking an approach of linking datasets from K-12 and higher education, social service, and workforce entities, with this announcement the state is on the verge of uniting information from disconnected data across sectors and providing insights previously unavailable. Through a user-friendly system, the public, researchers, and lawmakers will be able to access detailed information on education and career outcomes, workforce trends and more — broken down by race, gender, ability, and geography to illuminate and address areas of strength and needed growth, and any inequities. By linking data from multiple sources, C2C aims to illuminate gaps and identify opportunities throughout students’ education experiences so they can ultimately reach their goals for life and careers.

This first data transmission included data that has been collected, validated, and prepared by C2C’s partners: California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office; California Department of Education; California State University Chancellor’s Office; California Student Aid Commission; Commission on Teacher Credentialing; Department of Health Care Services; Department of Social Services; and University of California Office of the President.

C2C’s comprehensive 5-year plan seeks to integrate and link robust data from cradle to career, including planning future data on early learning and care, independent and private universities, workforce development, and social services.