The Brief

It’s been a challenging year for Adriana Orea, the L.A. City College pre-nursing student recently told LAist, as she took a walk to give herself a break from studying for finals.

On top of balancing work, school and being the parent of a three-year-old, Orea said the constant stream of families getting separated by immigration officials on social media has weighed her down. She said she didn’t have the time or energy to put up a Christmas tree this year.

As tough as the year has been, Orea has reasons to celebrate: Her son is thriving in pre-school, making friends and having fun. Orea has also completed the prerequisites for the competitive nursing programs she’ll be applying to this spring — something she attributes in part to financial support from the guaranteed basic income program her college is participating in. The program has provided Orea and 250 other L.A. community colleges students with $1,000 a month to spend according to their individual needs. The monthly installments recently ended, now it’s time to see what kind of difference they made in the lives of students.

Orea said she’s been able to get herself out of debt and start saving money. The goal of becoming a registered nurse — and the life she wants for her family — is getting within reach. “I’m so close,” she said. “I can’t wait to be in there.”

Evaluating the program’s success

Orea is among 251 students participating in the L.A. Community College District’s guaranteed basic income program, known as BOOST, short for Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students to Thrive. The initiative is part of a growing trend nationwide, with programs designed to support survivors of domestic violence, formerly incarcerated people and a wide range of adults with low incomes.

The program was made possible by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the California Community College Foundation, which pooled together more than $4 million in private funds. BOOST was made open to students pursuing health careers at four campuses: East L.A. College, L.A. City College, L.A. Southwest College, and L.A. Trade-Technical College. Those who met these requirements were invited to apply via email. For 12 months, Orea and the others received $1,000 installments, which they were free to spend however they liked.

Kelly King, chief advancement officer at the district, said the program aims to help meet employer demands for healthcare professionals, while bridging the gap between the students’ financial need and the region’s cost of living. In an email, she shared details about those who received the payments:

• average household annual income: $31,853  
• average age: 32
• 72% female, 26% male
• 65% Hispanic or Latino, 18.8% African American
• 47% have children in the household

Though the payments have all been dispersed, the program is not over. BOOST is being evaluated by the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Guaranteed Income Research. To fully understand the impact the payments had on students, the assessment will include over 300 others who did not receive $1,000 a month in its evaluation, King said.

The center wrapped up a third wave of student interviews and surveys this December. King expects an interim report in May 2026 and a final report in May 2027.

“The reason it takes so long is because we're not just measuring what happens during the 12 months in which [students] receive the payments,” she said. “We're also measuring what happens in the six months after the payments have concluded. And then, of course, they have to put together all of the information and see what it tells us about impacts and change.”

Through anecdotes and previous LAist reporting, King has learned that students who received the installments have used this money to pay for everything from rent to dental work. Because nearly half of BOOST participants are parents, many of them have used it to cover childcare. Some students are even building a nest egg.

Orea said she opened a high-yield savings account after signing up for free financial literacy workshops at her campus. As Orea continues making progress toward becoming a registered nurse, she’ll have a cushion to fall back on if an emergency comes up. That money is now a source of relief, she said, “one less obstacle in the way.”

Adriana Orea, one of 251 students in the L.A. Community College District’s inaugural guaranteed basic income program.

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Courtesy of Adriana Orea

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Brenda Olazava, another BOOST participant, recently wrapped up her first semester at Cal State L.A. She graduated from L.A. City College in the summer.

Olazava credits BOOST with helping her get to a university. Without that additional support, she would have had to work more during community college, which would've likely delayed her academic progress, she said.

So far, Olazava’s experience as a transfer student has been smooth. “I fit in perfectly,” she said. And though she’s still waiting for her final grades, when she walked in for her exams, she had two As and two Bs.

Olazava and the other 250 students who received monthly support got their last payment in the fall. Since then, her financial situation has become “a little tight,” she said. Olazava now has two part-time jobs: one to pay the rent, and one to pay her other bills.

“I'm always busy,” she said. “When I get home, I'm exhausted.”

Plans for growth 

Like Orea, King, who’s in charge of the district’s guaranteed basic income program, also had a rough year.

In January, she was among hundreds of Altadena residents who lost their homes in the Eaton fire. “There was a moment where everything I own could fit in one suitcase,” she said.

After the fire — on top of dealing with rebuilding and insurance claims — King had to figure out what was best for her children.

On Sunday nights, she often lay awake debating: “Where do we send them [to school]? Do we ask them to mask outdoors? Do we say they can't play outside? Can they go to the park?”

These experiences, King said, reminded her of the importance of “stability and continuity,” of “having somewhere consistent to lay your head.”

They also reinvigorated her commitment to her work: “Until [our students’] basic needs are met,” she said, “it's really hard for us to ask them to focus on other goals.”

After learning that a BOOST participant also lost her housing in the Eaton fire, King and her team secured additional funding for that student. Then, they moved to identify and provide post-fire aid to another 780. Almost a year later, the L.A. Community College District continues to make grants available for students experiencing housing insecurity due to the fires.

“We want to make sure that they can stay enrolled [in school] this spring,” King said.

As she plans for BOOST’s future, King is seeking another $1.8 million in private funding for a new 150-member cohort. One idea is to focus on students in the skilled trades, which could also enable the district to provide support for “more male-identified students,” who tend to go underrepresented in guaranteed basic income programs.

L.A. County still needs to rebuild thousands of homes damaged in the fires, King added, “and we want those good jobs to go to Angelenos.”

Companies that create and manufacture personal delivery devices, those cute bots you see on public sidewalks, have been working on growth plans for years.

Cities, on whose public sidewalks the delivery bots travel, are only now catching up to regulating them and charging the companies fees.

That's what's happening in Glendale, where, City Councilman Dan Brotman says, “[The delivery bots] just appeared out of nowhere. The company that operates [them] never reached out and talked to us."

He and other council members, he said, want to know if the delivery devices make it harder for Glendale residents using wheelchairs to use public sidewalks.

“I also am curious who is getting the financial benefit from these,” he said.

Glendale’s City Council asked city staff last month to draft two proposals, one with regulations and fees and the other pausing the operation of delivery bots while the council studies their impact. Brotman said staff may deliver those proposals to him and his colleagues in the months to come.

The two largest cities in LA County, at two different stages

The City of Los Angeles approved rules for personal delivery devices a few years ago, including flat permit fees. The City Council has since asked staff in the Department of Transportation to revaluate those rules and make suggestions.

One idea being considered — charging companies for every bot trip instead of the flat fee.

A delivery robot sits next to the bike path by the beach

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Courtesy Coco

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L.A. City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez successfully introduced the motion last year to have the regulations revisited. 

“[The companies are] starting to put movie ads or show ads, and if they're generating revenue off that, we want to know what that looks like but also be able to have a fee for them,” Hernandez said.

That report should be presented to the City Council later this year, she said. 

She’s also keen to hear from the public about their views on delivery bots. 

Companies that make the devices argue they’re providing an essential delivery service to residents while cutting down on the number of vehicles on the road making the deliveries.

“We currently pay fees in Los Angeles, Chicago and West Hollywood as part of their permit programs and are open to similar models in other cities,” said Vignesh Ram, vice president of policy at Serve Robotics, by email.

Starship Technologies' delivery robot exits the elevator in the company's office.

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Meg Kelly

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NPR

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The company is now operating in Long Beach; Ram says it notified the city before beginning to operate there.

A City of Long Beach spokesperson told LAist its business licensing, planning and public works teams are currently working on recommendations for regulations. Those should be presented to the City Council early this summer.

The story first appeared on The LA Local.

When Hermila Melero trains future therapists at Cal State LA, she emphasizes something she learned over nearly two decades working on the Eastside: It matters where you’re from. 

“When you know the difference between East LA and Boyle Heights … they appreciate that on a really fundamental level,” Melero, director of field education at CSULA’s School of Social Work, said. “You feel a sense of safety and being seen when the person reflects what you look like, has a foundational understanding of where you come from.” 

Now, a $48 million grant to California State University, Los Angeles, will open new opportunities for students to serve the communities they come from. The funding will expand the university’s social work and counseling programs, training 1,000 new students to support youth mental health in Eastside communities and other underserved areas of Los Angeles.

What will the funding do?

The five-year investment by the Ballmer Group — the largest grant in the university’s history — will significantly grow Cal State LA’s Master of Social Work program. 

Its one-year MSW program will double in size, the two‑year program will increase by 50%, and the School-Based Family Counseling program will also double. The bulk of the funding will support scholarships, new faculty and the expansion of clinical placements.

Cal State LA already partners with organizations across the Eastside, including El Centro De Ayuda, AltaMed, Survivor Justice Center and schools across LAUSD. The new funding will allow more students to work directly with these groups, serving families who often lack access to care. 

“This speaks to the amazing work our social work and counseling programs are doing within our schools and with LA’s agencies serving youth and families,” said CSULA President Berenecea Johnson Eanes in a statement to Boyle Heights Beat. “With more clinical placements and greater numbers of master’s alumni, we will make real strides in meeting a critical shortage of qualified social workers and counselors.”

In addition to CSULA, CSU Dominguez Hills received $29 million to expand mental health resources in South LA and UCLA will use part of its $33 million grant to develop a minor in youth behavioral health. The three universities have received a total of $110 million. 

When Hermila Melero trains future therapists at Cal State LA, she emphasizes something she learned over nearly two decades working on the Eastside: It matters where you’re from.

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Courtesy CSULA

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Why representation matters

For Melero, who was born and raised in East LA, the expansion is personal. 

Melero spent 17 years of her professional career as a social worker in her own community and the surrounding areas. She witnessed firsthand how much her patients appreciated it when she spoke to them in Spanish or told them where she grew up. 

“You don’t have to explain yourself, you don’t have to explain what it’s like, you know, to grow up here,” she said. 

Now as director of field education, she helps place students in organizations, clinics and schools across the region, many of them serving the neighborhood they call home. 

Barriers to access

The need for more mental health workers comes at a time when many Eastside families are facing more barriers to care.

Stigma around mental health combined with fear tied to immigration raids have discouraged some people from seeking services, Melero said.

At the same time, financial challenges are making it harder for students to enter the profession. 

In January, the U.S. Department of Education updated its definition of a “professional degree” and excluded social work, which will affect graduate students’ eligibility for federal student loans, creating a significant financial barrier, according to the Council on Social Work Education.

Students hope to give back

For students like Silvia Perez, 41, financial assistance would be a great help.

The Cal State LA undergraduate student is pursuing her master’s degree after she graduates in May, all while raising two teenagers and a 23-year-old. Perez has been paying for her education by selling shoes and perfume outside of her home in East LA. 

Her decision to pursue a career in social work came after seeing her sister navigate the Department of Children and Family Services system with her children and witnessing how young people in her community struggled with substance abuse and homelessness. 

After graduating, Perez hopes to work in East LA to help the people she encounters every day. She believes that level of understanding can create trust with an already vulnerable population.

“I would like to help the people in my community first…I live the daily life that everyone else in my community faces,” she said.

For more information on CSULA’s MSW programs, click here.

Editor’s Note: The LA Local also receives support from the Ballmer Group.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

California scored a legal victory Monday that for now, undermines the Trump administration’s efforts to drastically cut funding for homeless housing.

Changes that would have diverted huge chunks of federal funds away from permanent housing and funneled them instead into temporary shelters and sober living programs will remain suspended after the Trump administration dropped its appeal of an earlier court loss. While the broader case is still being litigated, the new development could provide some reassurance to California counties waiting for the federal funds.

“We continue to fight for Californians and the rule of law, and we continue to win,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. “People experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness need the federal government’s continued support — not a rollback of assistance.”

In November, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development attempted to change the way it doles out money for homeless services via its Continuum of Care program. It decreed that jurisdictions applying for a piece of about $4 billion in federal homelessness funds can’t spend more than 30% of that money on permanent housing — a move that would result in a significant cut to the type of long-term housing that can resolve someone’s homelessness.

Last year, California communities spent about 90% of their federal Continuum of Care funds on permanent housing.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration quickly joined 19 other states and the District of Columbia in suing to stop the Trump administration’s changes. In December, a federal judge in Rhode Island temporarily blocked the changes and ordered HUD to process funding applications under the original rules. The Trump administration appealed that ruling, leaving local governments and homeless service providers unsure of what they would be awarded funding for, and when.

The federal government on Monday dropped its appeal. While the rest of the lawsuit will move forward, and could take months to resolve, counties should be able to access permanent housing funds in the meantime.

Instead of prioritizing permanent housing, as has been the rule in the past, the Trump administration wants to focus more on shelters that get people off the streets quickly and temporarily, and on programs that require residents to be sober. HUD also attempted to ban the use of federal homelessness funds for diversity and inclusion efforts, support of transgender clients, and use of “harm reduction” strategies that seek to reduce overdose deaths by helping people in active addiction use drugs more safely.

A HUD spokesperson said the agency stood by its funding reforms.

“HUD remains committed to reforming the failed ‘Housing First’ approach and restoring the Continuum of Care program to its core objectives; reducing homelessness and promoting self-sufficiency for all vulnerable Americans, ensuring taxpayer dollars are directed towards those goals,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

HUD experienced another legal setback last month when a federal judge in Rhode Island shot down the agency’s attempt to upend another, smaller, source of federal homelessness funding. At issue in that case was a program called the Continuum of Care Builds grant, which funds the construction of new homeless housing. HUD last year made grantees reapply under a very different set of criteria, which seemed to disqualify organizations that support trans clients, use “harm reduction” to prevent drug overdose deaths or operate in a “sanctuary city.”

About $75 million in federal funds had been frozen as that case moved forward.

In March, the court found HUD violated the law through its “slapdash imposition of political whims.”

“This ruling is a victory for people across this nation who have overcome homelessness and stabilized in HUD’s permanent housing programs,” Ann Oliva, chief executive of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which filed the lawsuit, wrote in a statement. “Today’s news reinforces a fundamental truth: that the work to end homelessness is not partisan, and never should be interfered with for political means.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.