ARTICLE TAG

Jennifer Rodriguez

3/9/2017

California Time Limits 30-Day Shelters for Foster Youth in Midst of ‘Epic Crisis’ in Foster Parent Recruitment

As California shifts away from its reliance on group homes for children and youth in foster care, the first domino to drop is the elimination of 30-day emergency shelter facilities. As California rolls out the ambitious overhaul of its foster care system, advocates who pushed for the reform are hopeful that shortening timelines for placement, and other imminent changes, will disrupt the system and transform it into one that better serves children.

3/10/2016

Use of Shelters in California Highlights Foster Parent Crisis

The problems that forced the closure of the Children and Youth Welcome Centers in Los Angeles are not limited to the state’s largest county. Though there is some variation in how California counties deal with housing the children who enter their child welfare system, the pressure to recruit an adequate supply of foster families and address the needs of hard-to-place youth are persistent issues throughout the state.

Edgewood Center for Children & Families. Photo: Max Whittaker, Prime Collective.

10/12/2015

Far-Reaching Bill Promises Overhaul of Calif. Group Homes

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.

Jim Beall. Photo credit sacbee.com

9/21/2015

Bill to Support California “Crossover” Youth Sidelined, but Advocates Remain Hopeful

California’s Senate Bill 12, which would expand benefits and support for transition-age foster youth who have also been involved with probation, was sidelined in late August. The bill was cosponsored by Senator Jim Beall (D) and the San Francisco-based Youth Law Center, and would ensure that foster youth who end up in the justice system when they become adults have access to the same transition assistance that their peers do.

7/15/2015

Bill Expanding Support for Calif. “Crossover” Youth Clears Assembly

An effort to extend financial support to California’s probation-involved foster youth cleared another legislative hurdle yesterday when Senate Bill 12 was unanimously approved by an Assembly committee. In one of its final pushes, the Assembly Judiciary Committee passed the bill in a 10-0 vote.

4/13/2015

Angel Enters Foster Care through Probation’s Door

A 20-year-old’s saga of abuse, incarceration and heartache illuminates the shadowy intersection of child welfare and juvenile justice. “Like a picture in a magazine.” That’s how Angel’s mother Leah wanted their small townhouse in Pacifica, California, to look.

    1/9/2015

    Teri Kook Leaves the Stuart Foundation, but not the Field

    Last night, a tight-knit group of child welfare professionals gathered to bid Teri Kook goodbye. During her 12 years at the San Francisco-based Stuart Foundation, where she most recently served as the senior director of child welfare, Teri built a reputation as one of the country’s most imaginative thinkers on how to improve educational outcomes for foster youth, and helped lead the foundation to national prominence on child welfare issues writ large.

    3/31/2014

    A Public Education II: When Should the State Separate Children from Family

    A Public Education: Part II by ChronicleofSocialChange On Thursday nights during the spring semester, Fostering Media Connections Director Daniel Heimpel teaches a course called Journalism for Social Change at the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.