L.A. County launches Breathe, a Guaranteed Income Program that will provide 1,000 eligible residents with $1,000 per month for three years. To learn more about the program and who is eligible to apply, please visit the Breathe website in English and Spanish. Applications will be live between March 31 and April 13. Guaranteed income is a monthly cash payment given directly to individuals with no strings attached and no work requirements. The County will also be conducting a study to see how this program will impact the economic stability of participants.

The state continues its ongoing support for community schools as a school improvement and equity-enhancing strategy and just released the 2021-22 California Community Schools Partnership Program Implementation Grant. In the first application round, $400 million are slated to go to districts across the state to continue or add new community schools. L.A. Unified, a Compact signer, will seize this opportunity to support existing community schools in meeting the four community school pillars for another five years. Applications are due April 11, 2022.

The L.A. Compact is working with K-12, higher education and workforce stakeholders across L.A. County to design a regional application for the state's new CA K-16 Regional Collaborative opportunity. With an estimated award of $20 million over four years, the primary goal is to increase the number of graduates with postsecondary credentials/degrees in disciplines with middle- to high-income earning potential in order to address regional labor market needs. Click here for an overview of this opportunity for the L.A. region.

In February, UNITE-LA and the LAUSD Division of Instruction co-convened an advisory group composed of LAUSD students, parents, administrators and counselors; higher education institutions; and community organizations to advise on the design and support of a new strategic plan to ensure college and career success. This stems from LAUSD Board Resolution, "Got a Plan for That? Removing Barriers to College and Career Success." The group will develop a districtwide strategy for all LAUSD students to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or California Dream Act Application and a post-graduation planning component in the student's Individual Graduation Plan. Additionally, it encourages district and school leaders to partner with the community to support students in completing their applications and plan for their futures.

In February, the L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC) Foster Youth at Work campaign, driven by UNITE-LA and the Alliance for Children's Rights, kicked off its Youth-Centered Design Community of Practice with Brotherhood Crusade, Goodwill Panorama and Alhambra's American Jobs Center of California to assess their current practices and develop solutions related to foster youth employment, engagement and retention practices.

More than 150 L.A. Compact partners joined UNITE-LA and SoCal Grantmakers for our Data to Action event on Feb. 24 to officially launch the L.A. Compact Charting Progress Dashboard and to discuss new data and trends in education and workforce outcomes and what the path forward looks like for our cradle-to-career systems amid COVID-19 and persistent, systemic racism. The event featured a distinguished panel with the region's key systems leaders, including UNITE-LA board members Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez (LACCD), Dr. Manuel Pastor (USC), and Bill Allen (LAEDC), as well as LAUSD Board President Kelly Gonez and First 5 LA's Dr. Kimberly Hall.

We are excited to have Matthew (Matt) Moor join the L.A. Compact team as our new Postsecondary Initiatives Manager. In this role, Matt will support the L.A. Compact’s Postsecondary Transitions workgroup, L.A. College Promise, including our new College Promise Foster Youth initiative, and Let’s Go to College LA. He will also be supporting our L.A. Cash for College team.

The L.A. College Promise has shown promising outcomes in increasing college enrollment, persistence and completion for first time students at the L.A. Community College District. Yet, few foster youth enroll in the program, and only 46 percent of foster youth in L.A. County overall enroll in college within 12 months of high school graduation. The L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC) is now partnering with LACCD, LAUSD, and the L.A. County Office of Education and Department of Children and Family Services to increase direct college enrollment of foster youth into the L.A. College Promise, utilizing a design-thinking approach. The OYC partners will be conducting a series of interviews and focus groups in the fall with foster youth students as well as education and child welfare stakeholders to better understand the individual and systemic challenges foster youth face in navigating postsecondary enrollment, and to inform youth-centered solutions. Click here for an overview of the project.

On July 12, Gov. Newsom signed the 2021-22 State Budget Act, California's largest budget to date. The L.A. Compact and its signers applaud the California Legislature and Governor for passing and signing a historic $262.6 billion budget that includes record spending on programs that will uplift our most vulnerable Californians. This budget will also help advance the L.A. Compact's work to increase access to high-quality early care and education, further develop career pathways in high-growth industries, improve college access and success, and ensure workforce readiness through the intersection of programming, policy and systems change.

Reliable and affordable broadband internet access can serve as an engine of economic mobility, educational opportunity, civic engagement and better health care. As our reliance on the internet continues to grow, we are also leaving behind many individuals and communities who have limited or no internet access at all. It is time we eliminate the digital divide.