Rewriting the Narrative of Child Poverty: The Progress of the Baby Bonus Program in San Mateo County

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I hope you had a good summer and are enjoying the fall weather! I want to give you a progress report on our new Baby Bonus Pilot program.

As you know, despite our reputation for wealth and innovation, San Mateo County faces a stubborn and often overlooked crisis: child poverty. While the number of billionaires in this county has increased, so have the many families living on the edge.

Initiated by our work through the Jackie Speier Foundation, alongside many partners including Health Plan of San Mateo, San Mateo County, First Five, Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, and local philanthropists, this issue is being addressed head-on through a bold, evidence-based initiative—the Baby Bonus Program.

The Baby Bonus Vision

The Baby Bonus Program is a three-year pilot designed to provide monthly, unconditional cash gifts of $300 to randomly selected low-income families with newborns. Participants are all on Medi-Cal and give birth at hospitals throughout the Bay Area, including Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital. More than just a financial intervention, the program also includes care coordination through Community Health Workers, aiming to support families holistically.

The program draws inspiration from the landmark NIH-backed “Baby’s First Years” (BFY) study, which explored how cash transfers impact early childhood development. BFY’s initial findings showed promising signs of improved brain development among infants whose families received unconditional monthly income. However, you may have seen a recent follow-up article in The New York Times cast doubt on the long-term impact of cash transfers, reporting that children in the study showed no significant differences in cognitive or behavioral outcomes after four years.

Why Baby Bonus Is Different

While the BFY findings are sobering, the Baby Bonus team emphasizes that their pilot differs in critical ways:

• Dual Approach: The Baby Bonus Program combines financial support with coordinated care. The question isn’t just whether money helps—but whether money plus meaningful connection to health and support services can amplify outcomes for children and families.

• Broader Metrics of Success: Unlike BFY, which focused primarily on brain development and cognitive testing, Baby Bonus will track a wider range of indicators, including healthcare utilization (e.g., well-child visits, immunizations), access to public benefits like WIC and SNAP, and family engagement with support services.

• Real-World Context: BFY took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, when families received a wide array of emergency aid that may have obscured the impact of monthly payments. Baby Bonus is rolling out in a more stable, post-pandemic environment.

• Expert Endorsement: Dr. Greg Duncan, a lead researcher from BFY, has expressed optimism about the Baby Bonus model, highlighting the potential of combining cash support with care coordination. In his words, BFY’s results should not be seen as predictive of the Baby Bonus outcomes.

Early Signs of Impact

Since launching enrollment in April 2025, Baby Bonus Pilot has already enrolled over 150 families. Early feedback from families receiving full package resources has been overwhelmingly positive. Families report feeling more stable, more connected to resources, and more hopeful about the future. A robust 3-year evaluation is being conducted, and we expect a full progress report at the end of the first year.

Looking Ahead: A National Vision

The Baby Bonus Program is more than a local project—it’s a model for national change. If the pilot shows the kind of promise early signs suggest, advocates plan to bring it to Congress as a blueprint for ending child poverty across the United States.

But the program cannot succeed in isolation. The Jackie Speier Foundation is actively seeking additional funding and community partnerships to scale its impact and sustain its mission.

Join the Movement

Child poverty in San Mateo County—and across America—is not inevitable. It’s a solvable problem. The Baby Bonus Program offers a glimpse into what’s possible when we invest in families not with strings, but with trust, resources, and care.

I won’t stop fighting for our children until we create a pathway for all our children to thrive and reach their dreams.

To support this work or learn more, please visit the Jackie Speier Foundation and join us in rewriting the story of childhood in America—starting with San Mateo County.

With heartfelt thanks,

Jackie