Sophia spent 21 years in the foster care system, but considers herself lucky.

Now 24, she has created a solid foundation for herself in Santa Clara County, California, studying for a masters and mentoring other foster youth. But shes very aware that not everyone coming out of the foster care system has been able to do the same. Once the final transition has happened, its basically like you have no more support, she told HuffPost.

Young people age out of foster care between 18 and 21, depending on the state, and are suddenly left to fend for themselves with little to no safety net, making them extremely vulnerable to negative outcomes like homelessness and mental illness. A pandemic and soaring unemployment amplifies these vulnerabilities.

Santa Clara County has a plan the first of its kind in the U.S. to help address these struggles. In September 2020, the county launched a basic income pilot giving foster youth aging out of the system $1,000 a month, no strings attached, along with access to financial advice. The 72 recipients selected for the yearlong pilot are all around 24 years old, the age at which most lose access to county services. The monthly stipend is intended to provide a financial cushion to launch their adult life.

Dave Cortese, a former county supervisor and now California state senator, launched the pilot in 2019 after meeting Giselle Huff, founder of the Gerald Huff Fund for Humanity. The foundation advocates for universal basic income (UBI), the increasingly popular idea of giving free money, to everyone, with no conditions as to how the money is spent.