Money Without Management Skills
If passed, CA Senate Bill - 333 SOAR, California Success, Opportunity, and Academic Resilience Guaranteed Income Program, will provide $1,000 per month to eligible homeless public high school seniors from April - August. Per section 8281(e), this “guaranteed income means unconditional monetary payments issued monthly with the intention of ensuring the economic security of recipients.”
Statistically, homeless teens have 3x the rate of emotional and behavioral problems, and the longer the student stays on the streets or has to couch surf, the farther behind they fall in school. These teens lack both financial skills to manage money, and mental health therapy to help them deal with the trauma, abandonment and figuring out what to do next.
Assisting homeless students financially is necessary, though providing the resources, guidance and structure for properly managing the money is essential in breaking the cycle of dependency, and putting the student on a path to self-sufficiency. Without accountability and resources to address the underlying issues, rather than “ensuring the economic security of recipients,” “unconditional” money will likely perpetuate the cycle of dependency.
Robyne’s Nest provides wrap-around services to at-risk and homeless students referred by the Huntington Beach and Newport Mesa school districts administration and staff. These services include safe housing, mental therapy, life skills classes, including finances, basic needs, care coordination, and financial stipends with accountability.
Please consider a donation to Robyne’s Nest today, to assist us in helping our local at-risk high school students get on a path to self-sufficiency, and a brighter future.