California to consider guaranteed income pilot for homeless youth
A bill that would establish a guaranteed income pilot for homeless 12th-grade students in California will hit the state Senate Education Committee floor Wednesday.
Why it matters: Youth homelessness has been on the rise across the state, with many at higher risk of dropping out of school, turning to substance use and struggling with mental health challenges and chronic illnesses.
Roughly 17,000 12th graders in California experienced homelessness during the 2023-24 academic year, census data shows.
Driving the news: The legislation, introduced by state Sen. Dave Cortese (D-Silicon Valley), would establish a statewide guaranteed pilot program that provides $1,000 in monthly direct cash payments to homeless students as they transition out of high school.
How it works: The goal is to bolster access to housing, employment and college opportunities. Participants would still be eligible for public assistance programs, student financial aid and California's earned income tax credit.
Administered by the Department of Social Services, the California Success, Opportunity and Academic Resilience (SOAR) program would run from May 1 through Aug. 1 next year.
The state agency would be required to work with an independent research institution to measure educational and economic security outcomes.
What they're saying:"In California, we have the unfortunate designation of having the largest homeless youth population in the nation, and many of our large cities are trying to turn that around," Cortese said in a statement.
The idea for the pilot originated at San José State University, where 11% of the student population is unhoused in "one of the costliest areas in California," according to Cortese.
State of play: In San Francisco, there are almost 1,200 homeless youth — defined as unaccompanied minors under 18 and young adults ages 18-24 — on any given night, per the city's 2024 homelessness "point-in-time" count.
That's up from roughly 1,100 in 2022 but less than the roughly 1,250 recorded in 2019.
Black youth continue to account for a disproportionately high share.
Zoom in: The leading contributing cause of homelessness was financial struggles.
44% of homeless youth surveyed by the PIT count said they have psychiatric or emotional issues, while 29% said they have at least one disabling condition.
42% also reported being assaulted or attacked in the past year.
The intrigue: There was a 9% decrease from 2022 to 2024 in unsheltered youth homelessness, which covers those sleeping on streets, in vehicles or other places not meant for people to live.
At the same time, there was a 76% increase in sheltered youth homelessness, including those who sleep in emergency shelters and transitional housing, which the city attributed to greater shelter capacity and utilization.
Yes, but: The city identified a 94% increase in family homelessness from 2022, a trend local advocates have warned can perpetuate cycles of poverty between generations.
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The Hill
29 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump has rejected police reform. States and localities must take the lead.
Five years after a Minneapolis police officer brutally murdered a handcuffed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes, prompting worldwide protests against wrongful police killings of Black people, the Trump administration has taken a giant step back from police reform. The Justice Department announced in May that it is abandoning agreements reached with police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Ky., mandating reforms designed to reduce killings, brutality and other police misconduct. The Justice Department is conducting a review to determine if it should drop similar agreements with about a dozen other police departments. On top of this, the Justice Department will end civil rights investigations of alleged criminal conduct by the Louisiana State Police and police departments in Memphis, Mount Vernon, N.Y., Oklahoma City, Phoenix and Trenton, N.J. Thankfully, Minneapolis officials announced that they will abide by their agreement, known as a consent decree, reached with the Justice Department in the closing days of the Biden presidency. But it is absurd to depend on police departments to police themselves. The federal government has a duty to protect people from police who engage in criminal conduct. The dangerous pullback by the Justice Department is likely to result in more wrongful deaths at the hands of police — particularly of Black people and members of other minority groups. A nationwide count by the Washington Post of deadly shootings by police from 2015 through 2024 found that Black people 'are killed by police at more than twice the rate' of white people in America. The number of non-Hispanic whites killed by police was 4,657, compared with 2,484 Black people. Because only 14 percent of the American population is Black, the number of people killed by police annually averaged 6.1 per million of the Black population, compared with 2.5 per million of the white population. There are, of course, times when police must use deadly force to prevent the killing of others. But this wasn't the case with Floyd and many others killed by police. Floyd, who was unarmed, was only suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. As a Black man like Floyd, I have experienced the unfair and harsh treatment some officers give to people who look like us. I've been stopped on the road and detained in front of my home by police several times when doing nothing wrong. I've been ordered out of my home and car to lay on the ground, had guns pointed at me, been handcuffed and been threatened with arrest. I don't think I would be treated this way were it not for the color of my skin. Most police officers never beat, shoot or kill anyone. They risk their lives to keep us safe and deserve our gratitude. But it is naive to believe that officers can do no wrong, that we live in a colorblind society or that there is no such thing as systemic racism. In the wake of the Trump administration's rejection of its duty to protect us all from police misconduct, the job of implementing needed reforms must go to state and local governments that oversee police agencies. Here are some actions they should take. Increase police funding to implement reforms: After Floyd's murder, some progressives adopted the slogan 'defund the police.' That was a mistake. Police departments need more federal, state and local government funding to better train and pay officers and to put more officers on the street to do police work the right way. More funding will make it less likely that police engage in the kind of unlawful violence that killed Floyd and too many others. Polling by CBS in 2022 found only 9 percent of Americans believed providing less funding for police would help prevent violent crime, while 49 percent said more funding for police would do so. A Gallup poll the same year found 89 percent of Americans believed minor or major changes were needed to improve policing — including 87 percent of whites, 90 percent of Hispanics and 95 percent of Blacks. Focus on preventing crime, not just crime response: Putting more cops on the street and having them get out of their patrol cars to build relationships with people and businesses helps officers gather intelligence about bad actors. The increased presence of officers in communities will prevent crime. This is an expensive but necessary step if we are serious about police reform. Independently investigate alleged misconduct: Rather than relying on police departments to police themselves and investigate officers accused of misconduct, states and localities should set up independent commissions to objectively conduct such investigations. Reward good cops and punish bad ones: Officers who report misconduct by colleagues should be rewarded financially and with promotions, while officers acting improperly should be disciplined, including with firing and prosecution when they commit crimes. A national database of fired officers should be established so bad cops can't get hired by departments in other localities. Increase police pay and education requirements: Raising police pay will make it easier to attract well-qualified job applicants. Departments should require every new hire to have at least two years of college and eventually a four-year degree. A 2017 national survey found that about 52 percent of officers had two-year college degrees, about 30 percent had four-year degrees and about 5 percent had graduate degrees. Governing Magazine reported in 2023 that 'research suggests that officers with college degrees generate fewer substantiated complaints and … are less likely to shoot or kill members of the public.' Increase screening of police recruits and veteran officers: Use psychological tests and in-depth interviews to identify those unsuitable for police work because they are too eager to use violence — especially if they feel threatened — or too prejudiced against certain groups. Increase officer training: Better training will make officers better able to do their jobs without resorting to deadly force. This should include training in psychology and mental health to assist officers in dealing with people experiencing a mental health crisis. Alternatively, set up a division of mental health police officers to address incidents where drugs or mental issues are the source of bad conduct. 'One in five fatal police shooting victims may have been experiencing a mental health crisis … at the time of their death,' a federal study of 633 deadly police shootings concluded. These recommendations are all common sense and promote justice and public safety. With the Trump administration abandoning its responsibility to investigate police misconduct and demand reforms, the job passes to state and local governments. Doing so would be a fitting tribute to George Floyd and the many others wrongfully killed by police. A. Scott Bolden is an attorney, former New York state prosecutor, NewsNation contributor and former chair of the Washington, D.C. Democratic Party.
Politico
33 minutes ago
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Democrats eyeing a presidential bid scramble to un-woke themselves
Ambitious Democrats with an eye on a presidential run are in the middle of a slow-motion Sister Souljah moment. Searching for a path out of the political wilderness, potential 2028 candidates, especially those hailing from blue states, are attempting to ratchet back a leftward lurch on social issues some in the party say cost them the November election. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who is Black, vetoed a bill that took steps toward reparations passed by his state legislature. California Gov. Gavin Newsom called it 'unfair' to allow transgender athletes to participate in female college and youth sports. And Rahm Emmanuel has urged his party to veer back to the center. 'Stop talking about bathrooms and locker rooms and start talking about the classroom,' said former Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emmanuel, the two-term Chicago mayor who said he is open to a 2028 presidential campaign. 'If one child is trying to figure out their pronoun, I accept that, but the rest of the class doesn't know what a pronoun is and can't even define it,' Each of these candidates are, either deliberately or tacitly, countering a perceived weakness in their own political record or party writ large—Emmanuel, for example, has called the Democratic Party 'weak and woke'; Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) has said the party needs more 'alpha energy'; others like Newsom are perhaps acknowledging a more socially liberal bent in the past. On diversity, equity, and inclusion, some in the party are also sending a signal they're no longer kowtowing to their left flank. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg removed his pronouns from his social media bio months ago, and questioned how the party has communicated about it. 'Is it caring for people's different experiences and making sure no one is mistreated because of them, which I will always fight for?' he said in a forum at the University of Chicago earlier this year. 'Or is it making people sit through a training that looks like something out of 'Portlandia,' which I have also experienced,' Buttigieg said. Buttigieg added, 'And it is how Trump Republicans are made.' Moderate Democrats are having a moment and there is a cadre of consultants and strategists ready to support them. Ground zero for the party's great un-awokening was this week's WelcomeFest, the moderate Democrats' Coachella. There, hundreds of centrist elected officials, candidates and operatives gathered to commiserate over their 2024 losses and their party's penchant for purity tests. Panels on Wednesday featured Slotkin, Reps. 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It is an issue of fairness — it's deeply unfair,' Newsom said, a comment that was panned by many of his longtime LGBTQ+ supporters and progressive allies. Newsom for months has also muted his tone on immigration issues, avoiding using the word 'sanctuary' to describe a state law that limits police cooperation with federal immigration authorities even as he defends the legality of the policy. The governor is proposing steep cuts to a free health care program for undocumented immigrants, which comes as California faces a $12 billion budget deficit. In recent days, however, he joined a chorus of California Democrats criticizing Trump administration immigration efforts in his state. Moore, who recently trekked to South Carolina, vetoed legislation that would launch a study of reparations for the descendants of slaves from the Democratic-controlled legislature. Moore urged Democrats not get bogged down by bureaucratic malaise and pointed to the Republican Party as the reason why. 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'Surely, we can see some humanity and some different perspectives in this overall debate's that going on right now,' Beshear added. The Kentucky governor said his stance is rooted in faith — 'all children are children of God,' he often says. Walz called it 'a mistake' to abandon transgender people. 'We need to tell people your cost of eggs, your health care being denied, your homeowner's insurance, your lack of getting warning on tornadoes coming has nothing to do with someone's gender,' he told The Independent last month. Pritzker, too, recently said that it's 'vile and inhumane to go after the smallest minority and attack them.' This spring, Pritzker declared March 31 as Illinois' Transgender Day of Visibility. 'Walz, [Sen. Chris] Murphy, Pritzker, Beshear — they're not going around talking about it all the time, but they're also not running away from their values,' said one adviser to a potential 2028 candidate granted anonymity to discuss the issue candidly. 'They're in the both-and lane.' The party's reckoning with social issues is far from over. In 2021, then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro vocally opposed a GOP bill that aimed to ban trans athletes from participating in women's school sports, calling it 'cruel' and 'designed to discriminate against transgender youth who just want to play sports like their peers.' This year, as the state's Republican-controlled Senate has passed a similar bill with the support of a handful of Democrats, Shapiro has remained mum on the legislation. It's not likely to come up for a vote in the state's Democratic-held House, so he may be able to punt — at least a while. As Emmanuel sees it, his party has a long way to go to over-correct for what he paints as the excesses of the last few years. 'The core crux over the years of President [Joe] Biden's tenure is the party on a whole set of cultural issues looked like they were off on a set of tangential issues,' Emmanuel said. Dasha Burns, Dustin Gardner, Holly Otterbein, and Brakkton Booker contributed to this report.
CNET
3 hours ago
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82% of HBCUs Fight Internet Deserts: One Institution's Strategy for Change
Imagine trying to complete your senior research project without access to a stable internet connection. Or consider how difficult it might be to do work on a group project if you're constantly getting kicked off your Wi-Fi. That's the reality for many students at historically Black colleges and universities. Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack, president of Claflin University, shared a story about an email he received a few years ago from a student facing that very scenario. The student wrote: 'It is my prayer that Claflin's passion for education aligns with its compassion. I am currently typing my senior research paper at the local McDonald's that I drive to nine miles every day to do this work because my town doesn't have Wi-Fi bandwidth.' She said she would sit in the parking lot for four hours daily to work on her senior thesis. Shortly after receiving this email, Claflin University partnered with the Student Freedom Initiative to help provide students with broadband access. According to a 2021 McKinsey report, 82% of HBCUs are located in broadband deserts. These broadband deserts are areas that either severely lack access to adequate internet or have little internet at all. Despite this, broadband programs aimed at closing the digital divide in the US are currently in retreat. In May, President Donald Trump announced the termination of the Digital Equity Act, calling it 'racist' and 'unconstitutional.' This $2.75 billion program was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law from 2021. It was established to help close the digital divide by increasing broadband adoption. This program was also essential to funding digital literacy initiatives for public schools and colleges, with some states and local governments already beginning to receive grant rewards. With the untimely end of the DEA, those funds never reached their destination. Locating local internet providers In 2020, students at Claflin University and the surrounding areas in Orangeburg, South Carolina, struggled with inadequate internet access because they lived in a broadband desert. 'The only way for students to actually get access to content was to come together in areas that provided [broadband] access, which created a problem,' said Keith Shoates, the president and CEO of the Student Freedom Initiative. He highlighted that at a time when students were supposed to be in quarantine, they were forced to come out of isolation and put themselves and their peers at risk just to do their schoolwork. The Student Freedom Initiative is a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the wealth gap through education. In 2023, SFI partnered with technology company Cisco, providing 5G internet service across campus. While the Orangeburg community still faces challenges from being in a broadband desert, Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a thriving space for students. A long history of HBCUs in broadband deserts Access to an adequate internet connection equips students to do better in the classroom and beyond. But many HBCUs are in broadband deserts. These broadband deserts are located primarily in the Black Rural South of the US. According to a report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Black Rural South consists of more than 152 counties in 10 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. This information pretty much matches data from the Student Freedom Initiative. As seen from the map above, the Student Freedom Initiative currently works with more than 25 HBCUs in broadband deserts, all located along the Black Rural South in the US. These include Tuskegee University, Florida A&M University, Xavier University of Louisiana and Hampton University. Knowing the history of HBCUs helps one better understand these broadband deserts and how they exist. HBCUs are among the most underfunded institutions in the country because of the effects of historical and present-day systemic racism and practices like digital redlining. The term redlining dates back to the New Deal era in the 1930s when banks denied residents from 'at-risk' neighborhoods, predominantly from Black communities, to qualify for loans. During this era, government agencies created color-coded maps, highlighting which neighborhoods are least to most risky in terms of loan-worthiness. Digital redlining is a discriminatory practice that involves internet providers excluding their services in certain locations. If you take a look at a map, you can see the distinction between areas with broadband and those without. According to data from the US Census Bureau (PDF), residents in urban areas were more likely than those in rural areas to have broadband internet subscriptions. Moreover, more than 90% of households in the urban south had broadband access in 2021, versus 85% in the rural south. For example, Mississippi, New Mexico and West Virginia ranked the lowest in broadband access. US Census Bureau Although redlining has been illegal for quite some time, a form of digital redlining still exists, as seen by the lack of competition among internet providers in the Black Rural South. HBCUs are located in areas with inadequate broadband infrastructure and it doesn't help that these institutions are severely underfunded by at least $12 million in more than 15 states. According to a Brookings Metro report (PDF), 'HBCUs are chronically underfunded due to state underinvestment, lower alumni contributions (related to lower Black incomes and Black wealth), and lower endowments.' Plenty of studies have shown that low-income communities often lack access to adequate home broadband connections. The McKinsey report noted earlier also shows that more than 81% of HBCUs are in counties where the median wage is below the national average and, compared to non-HBCUs, are in areas where the projected job growth is below the national average. Why does this matter? Improving broadband infrastructure would not just benefit HBCUs or the millions of disconnected Americans in rural communities but could help the US economy at large. Broadband access for HBCUs could mobilize the economy There seems to be a wave of uncertainty regarding the country's current state of broadband programs. The Affordable Connectivity Program ended in May 2024, leaving more than 23 million households without access to affordable home internet and, with the recent news about the Digital Equity Act, disconnected Americans may rely on federal funds primarily from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. But states have run into delays in receiving those funds because of bureaucratic changes. Additionally, there could be further holdups in light of potential changes to the program from the new administration. According to some estimates, most states may not hear back on a timeline until June or July. Shoates emphasized SFI's commitment to helping students, regardless of where federal broadband programs stand in this country. 'We're still moving forward because the problem still exists,' Shoates said. He emphasized the significance of moving forward with non-federal sources to address the broadband gap for students. In addition to their partnership with Cisco in deploying 5G internet hotspots for Claflin University, SFI also connects these HBCUs to high-net-worth individuals, organizations and other philanthropists in their network. The Student Freedom Initiative was founded after Robert F. Smith, a philanthropist and Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, gave nearly $34 million to the graduating class of Morehouse College in 2019, paying off their student loans. Smith currently serves as SFI's chairman. Without the federal backbone support, nonprofit groups such as SFI will work with state legislatures and their corporate partners to keep the wheels moving. Still, eliminating or stalling federal funding from this equation will slow the reduction of the broadband gap. Warmack, Claflin's president, conveyed that federal broadband funding can really help, especially for severely underfunded institutions such as HBCUs. For example, Claflin University received a $2.9 million grant from the Connecting Minority Community Project through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which helped provide wireless internet on campus and in the surrounding areas. Shoates maintains that investing in HBCUs and improving their broadband infrastructure could potentially increase economic activity by half a trillion dollars, which would be reflected in the country's GDP. McKinsey According to data from McKinsey, a strong HBCU network could increase Black worker incomes by about $10 million, contribute at least $1.2 billion in incremental business profit, reduce student loan debt by $300 million and provide $1 billion in additional consumer expenditures. Broadband access and future student outcomes According to a 2021 report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (PDF), 13% of Black students primarily use a tablet or cellphone to complete their coursework, compared to 8% of college students who do not. More than half of Black students who reported having unreliable internet connections complained about being able to access only some content online and or that it's difficult because of slow internet. From the 2021 report, Online Isn't Optional. Student Polling on Access to Internet and Devices. Institute of Higher Education Policy Yvette Thomas, SFI's program director of Institutional Transformation, said that HBCUs face persisting challenges because of the lack of high-speed broadband and the digital gap, which restricts students from accessing resources and online professional opportunities. Thomas spearheads the execution of HBCU capacity building, including modernizing the Information Technology infrastructure. 'When kids come to college, they usually come with at least five to six devices for the network and it slows the network down,' Thomas said. Without access to a high-speed internet connection, students can fall behind in the digital landscape, especially in the new era of artificial intelligence. 'There's gonna be this 26-mile marathon and they're gonna be on mile two … and that puts them at a competitive disadvantage,' Shoates said. He added that broadband access is imperative to students as it equips them with the proper digital literacy skills they need in the workforce. Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a space that provides 5G internet for students but what about the other 82% of HBCUs still living in these internet deserts? Who's to say that there aren't others with similar experiences to that Claflin student driving to a McDonald's parking lot for Wi-Fi just to complete work? Without the federal backbone support, the work of SFI, its corporate partners and generous donations from philanthropists are vital to help reduce the broadband gap in the meantime.
