Carroll Schroeder

Carroll Schroeder will step down from his longtime post as executive director of the California Alliance of Child and Family Services early next year, retiring after what will be 18 years with the organization.

In foster care most of her life, 17-year-old Amber* finally found a little stability at R.I.S.E. House. After cycling through 35 foster and group homes, she developed relationships at R.I.S.E. and was poised to graduate from high school.

Over 100 members of California Youth Connection (CYC) and their adult supporters gathered last weekend at the University of Southern California to discuss crucial issues facing youth in the foster care system, and create policy recommendations to remove these barriers to success for young people in the future.

Most group homes in California are poised to embrace mandated changes to the way they administer services under a new law if they want to continue providing care to children and youth in foster care.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation yesterday that aims to drastically reduce the number of children placed in group homes as well as the length of time they spend in such placements, part of a package of reforms that will reshape the state’s foster care system.

Last Friday, a handful of California lawmakers, experts in children’s mental health and advocates assembled at West Oakland’s Lincoln Child Center for a forum on children’s mental health policy. The gathering, which packed Lincoln’s auditorium, was more a chance to publicly address children’s mental health issues than commence on substantive changes.