California HOPE for Children Trust Account Program: 2024 Report to the Legislature

On February 1, 2024, the California HOPE (Hope, Opportunity, Perseverance, and Empowerment) for Children Trust Account Program delivered its implementation report to the California Department of Finance and the Legislature. Established by Assembly Bill 156 in 2022 with $100 million in initial funding plus $15 million in annual appropriations, the program will provide trust accounts to an estimated 10,000 low-income children who lost a parent or guardian to COVID-19 and approximately 48,500 long-term foster youth. Accounts are projected to reach $4,500 per participant by age 18, with account funding expected to begin in July 2025.

Marked by COVID Co-Founder Kristin Urquiza served on the HOPE Advisory Workgroup, contributing to the program's design across more than two dozen meetings throughout 2023. Marked by COVID also helped recruit participants for the HOPE Youth Panel of Experts, a group of twelve young people with lived experience in foster care or COVID bereavement who shaped the program's outreach and service delivery model. Read the full report.