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Senator Nancy Skinner announced her plan to introduce legislation to create Hope Accounts for children who have lost a parent or primary caregiver due to COVID-19.
Hope Accounts would be created by the state of California - the accounts would be established for children who have lost a parent because of COVID-19. For children up to the age of 9, up to an amount of $3,000 would be deposited into their account, for children 10-17 years old, up to $5,000 would be deposited into their accounts.
Currently, in California, approximately 20,000 children have lost a parent or caregiver due to COVID-19.
Senator Nancy Skinner, who is also the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, commented on her plan. She said:
“The Hope for Children Act will offer a more secure future to children who lost their parents to this deadly pandemic,”
she went on to say,
"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.”
If passed, this will be able to help many children who have suffered the loss of a parent. Shimica Gaskins, president and CEO of GRACE - End Child Poverty in CA said:
“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,”