California State Senator Nancy Skinner announced on Monday plans to introduce legislation that would provide financial assistance to children who had a parent or primary caregiver die from COVID-19.
The new bill will be called the "The Hope for Children Act." Skinner, who represents California's ninth district, which encompasses parts of Alameda and Contra Costa County, plans to introduce the act when the new legislative session begins in January.
The bill would establish a Hope Savings Account for children from lower income families who lost a parent or primary caregiver due to COVID-19, with up to $3,000 deposited by the state for children age 9 and younger and up to $5,000 for those age 10 to 17.
Foster children, and others "disproportionately" impacted by poverty would also be eligible for the special savings accounts.
"The Hope for Children Act will offer a more secure future to children who lost their parents to this deadly pandemic,” Skinner, who is chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said in a press release. "Children who are long-term wards of California’s foster care system and others disproportionately impacted by extreme poverty also face uncertain futures, so the Act creates the possibility of Hope Accounts for these children."
In addition, the legislation would create the "CalHope Program" for children who are not eligible for federal survivor benefits because their parent did not log 40 credits of work with the federal government.
An estimated 20,000 California children and 140,000 nationwide lost a parent or primary caregiver due to COVID-19, according to Skinner's office. Furthermore, 67% of those children nationally were non-white and many of those parents who died worked low-wage jobs that continued throughout the pandemic shutdown.
"The Hope for Children Act is the first of its kind that seeks to provide support to children who must now fill the role of their parental figures to meet their basic needs. The trust accounts, modeled after ‘baby bonds,’ will ensure that these children have financial resources when they are transitioning into adulthood and will create the opportunity for California to support foster children and other children disproportionately impacted by poverty in the future. The CalHope program will also provide survivor benefits so that burden is lifted," Shimica Gaskins, president and CEO of GRACE - End Child Poverty in CA, said.
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