Foundations for the Future
Foundations for the Future is a guaranteed income pilot run by the San Francisco Human Services Agency (SFHSA) that provided $1,200 monthly, unrestricted cash payments for 18 months to up to 150 young adults who recently aged out of San Francisco's extended foster care or juvenile probation systems. It was one of seven pilots competitively funded through California's first state-funded Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, administered by the California Department of Social Services, with additional funding from the City and County of San Francisco and the nonprofit Tipping Point Community. Participants could optionally access benefits counseling from Bay Area Legal Aid and case management/financial literacy coaching from First Place for Youth. The pilot's enrollment launched in October 2023, with SFHSA stating first payments would begin in November 2023, and it is being evaluated locally by Chapin Hall and statewide by the Urban Institute and UC Berkeley.
Foster Youth, Juvenile Probation, California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, Extended Foster Care, State-Funded Pilot
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- San Francisco Human Services Agency
- City
- San Francisco
- State / Province
- California
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Website
- https://www.sfhsa.org/
- Phone
- +1 415 557 5000
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 150
- Funding type
- Government, Philanthropic
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 21,600 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 1,200 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 18 months
- Distribution Type
- Direct deposit to bank account, Re-loadable debit card
- Benefit details
Participants received $1,200 per month, unrestricted, for 18 months (about $21,600 total per participant), plus optional wraparound services: benefits counseling from Bay Area Legal Aid and case management/financial literacy coaching from First Place for Youth. About half of participants engaged in at least one optional supportive service, and those who did generally found them helpful. Seed data indicated payments were made via direct deposit or a reloadable debit card through the vendor AidKit, but this specific distribution mechanism could not be independently verified in available sources. Chapin Hall's baseline survey (before payments began) found high housing instability (40% experienced homelessness in the prior year) and financial precarity among the cohort.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Applicants had to be at least 21 years old and have aged out of San Francisco's extended foster care (through Family & Children's Services) or the Juvenile Probation Department's extended foster care/probation system on or after January 1, 2022. Applicants also needed an annual household income at or below $60,000 for a single adult in San Francisco County, with the income floor calculated using the Insight Center's Family Needs Calculator (based on a household of 2 adults and 2 infant children) and varying by the participant's county of residence. The program specifically targeted youth with dual child-welfare and juvenile-justice system involvement, a population SFJPD leadership noted is disproportionately youth of color.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 21
Family
- Family Status
- Foster Youth
Financial
- Income limit (annual household)
- $60,000
Justice
- Justice involvement status
- Juvenile Justice
Geography
- US states covered
- California
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- San Francisco
- Counties covered
- San Francisco
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Optional
- Complementary program enrollment required
- None required, optional supportive services included benefits counseling (Bay Area Legal Aid) and case management/financial literacy coaching (First Place for Youth).
- Research / participation requirements
The pilot is evaluated locally by Chapin Hall (in partnership with funder Tipping Point Community, extending tracking to two years after participants exit the program) and statewide by the Urban Institute and UC Berkeley on behalf of CDSS. Methods include program administrative data, participant surveys (e.g., a baseline survey and a ~9-month post-enrollment survey of 82 participants), and interviews with participants and staff from SFHSA, Bay Area Legal Aid, and First Place for Youth. Published findings to date: a March 2025 baseline brief (70% of participants worried frequently about bills, 40% experienced homelessness in the past year, 70% faced food insecurity, only 27.3% enrolled in CalFresh); a January 2026 brief on how participants were faring midway through the pilot; and a 2026 implementation brief finding participants found payment access easy but supportive-service uptake lower than expected (about half engaged in at least one service).
Application Process
- How to apply
Enrollment opened the week of SFHSA's October 16, 2023 announcement. Eligible young adults were identified/referred through San Francisco's Family & Children's Services and the Juvenile Probation Department (e.g., via social workers or probation staff) and applied by confirming their aged-out foster care/probation status and household income. Specific online/paper application steps beyond referral and eligibility documentation were not detailed in available sources.
- Selection process
All applicants who met the eligibility criteria (aged 21+, aged out of SF extended foster care or juvenile probation on/after January 1, 2022, and under the income threshold) were enrolled on a first-come basis up to the program's capacity of 150 participants; sources do not describe a lottery.
