fostering connections to success act
San Francisco Examiner reports on need for youth in foster care to have option of extended care
‘It kind of threw me off for the first month,’ Evans said, recalling the sudden responsibility of having to pay his own bills and shop for his own groceries. Evans, now 20, lives by himself in a Daly City apartment. He is taking general studies courses at City College of San Francisco and hopes to become an auto mechanic.
But while he said he was thriving on his own, he was happy to hear about a new law that will let current foster children stay in the system until they turn 21…”
Source: Amy Crawford, San Francisco Examiner, January 8, 2012
L.A. Times showcases state-wide extension of foster care starting 2012
To ensure that the funds behind the new law are leveraged to their full potential, more needs to be done to figure out what types of assistance work best for which types of youth…”
Read full article here.
After 18 campaign to spread word about extended foster care now available to youth
Starting 2012, youth are allowed to remain in care after 18. That includes assistance for education and employment training, as well as developing and maintaining important relationships with caring adults…
Source: After 18 California, January 2, 2011
Opinion piece in San Jose Mercury News links homelessness with need to support youth transitioning out of foster care
The data is horrific — 40 percent of persons living in homeless shelters are former foster children; 14 percent of youth reported being homeless at least once since leaving foster care; and 65 percent exit foster care without a place to live…
Source: Andre V. Chapman, San Jose Mercury News, October 18, 2011
NPR interviews executive director of Jim Casey Youth Opportunities on new research on adolescent brain development and implications for transitional age foster youth
“Child advocate Gary Stangler is the executive director of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. He’s hoping to use research about the incomplete brain development of e18-year olds to extend services for foster children up to age 21…
Source: NPR, October 11, 2011
Sf Chronicle op-ed highlights issues surrounding former foster youth, budget cuts, and AB 12 implementation
Was this [AB 12] really going to be about improving the lives of our most vulnerable Californians … or tapping federal funds to relieve the fiscal pressures on state and county bureaucracies?..
Source: John Diaz, San Francisco Chronicle, July 11, 2011
Wall Street Journal celebrates positive outcomes for Alameda County’s foster youth following system overhaul
“A risky plan to turn around Alameda County’s foster-care system is paying dividends, reducing the number of kids in the program while providing more help to older teens as they make the transition to adulthood…
Source: Bobby White, Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2011
