by Suzanne Potter
California News Service
Groups working to fight hunger in California are praising Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed changes to the state budget regarding food assistance for undocumented people, but say they do not go far enough.
The governor’s “May Revise” would allow undocumented immigrants over age 55 to participate in food assistance programs two years earlier than planned, starting in 2025 instead of 2027.
Tia Shimada, director of programs at Nourish California, said the state should not exclude people from CalFresh or the California Food Assistance Program because of their age or immigration status.
“Those inequities, they’re written into our policies,” pointed out. “They’re a choice, and California can do better. Gov. Newsom and the California state Legislature should end the unjust exclusion of immigrants from food assistance.”
Senate Bill 245 and Assembly Bill 311 would expand the food assistance programs to include from 580,000 to 670,000 low-income undocumented people under age 55. Opponents cited cost concerns.
Food insecurity is associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes and has been shown to impair cognitive development in children.
Ali Ahmed, a student at the University of California-San Diego, said it is tough for immigrant students who struggle to afford basic necessities.
“This is the case for many of my friends at school,” Ahmed observed. “These immigrants are left to rely on food pantries or have to make hard choices between paying for school materials or buying food to keep them nourished and ready to learn.”
Advocates have organized under the banner of the “Food4All” campaign, a coalition of 100 groups around the state. They say 46 percent of undocumented immigrants under age 55 experience food insecurity.
Too many kids age out of foster care without a permanent family
A new report shows the number of people between the ages 14 to 21 in the foster-care system has dropped by about half over a 15-year period – and that the reasons they enter the system are evolving. Researchers from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that in the Golden State, the percentage of kids entering foster care due to neglect went from 26 percent in 2006 to 66 percent in 2021.
Angela Vazquez with the Children’s Partnership said, especially in a wealthy state such as California, neglect really means poverty.
“We are pulling young people into a system that is not trauma-informed because their families are poor and lack real access to the kinds of services they would need,” she said.
The number of teens entering the system due to abuse went up 3 percentage points. And those entering due to behavior problems dropped from 45 percent to 11 percent over the same time period. There is some good news – the report also found a big drop in the use of group homes and in runaways, and a greater emphasis on placement with foster families, with relatives, and with supervised independent living.
The state offers life-skills training, vocational training, mentoring and housing assistance to help with the transition to adulthood.
But Todd Lloyd, with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said only 57 percent of foster kids older than 14 receive those services. And only 24 percent are still in the system at age 19.
“We really encourage states to consider ways that they can encourage young people to remain in foster care after the age of 18 If they don’t have a permanent family,” Lloyd said. “But we’ve seen nationally that the utilization of extended foster care after the age of 18 is actually very low.”
Data show that in 2020, only 26 percent of foster kids in California exited the system because they found a permanent home – and 70 percent left when they became emancipated or aged out.
