Our Work
Economic Security
The challenges faced by youth who have been in foster care or homeless can follow them into adulthood, impacting their ability to achieve economic security as adults.
JBAY works to ensure youth have the opportunity to grow into economically secure adults through a range of strategies:
The California Earned Income Tax Credit is the state’s largest income transfer program, providing over $1 billion to low-income Californians in 2019. Unfortunately this tax credit does not reach most young adults in foster care because they aren’t filing taxes. JBAY leads a public information campaign to raise awareness about filing taxes and tax credits, and leads local pilot projects aimed at ensuring current and former foster youth are accessing free tax preparation assistance.