California bill would give homeless high school seniors $1,000 a month

A bill in the Legislature would give homeless high school seniors $1,000 a month, from April until August of their senior year.

As reported by the L.A. Times, Senate Bill 1341 is projected to cost about $85 million a year, to cover approximately 15,000 students. To be eligible, students would need to meet the definition of homeless used by public schools, which includes living in unstable housing or doubling up with other families.

“It’s essentially this transitional support to try to disrupt the cycle of homelessness at this age group,” Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, told the L.A. Times. Cortese introduced the bill.

A previous bill he introduced would have given $500 a month to college students from low-income families, but that was scrapped after lawmakers realized that the money would be subtracted from students’ financial aid.