Ryann Blackshere

The dentist warned Kassaundra Peterson that having all four of her wisdom teeth pulled without general anesthesia would hurt. But getting the procedure done without extra anesthesia would only cost $1,100, instead of almost $2,000.

Saturday afternoons are Jay’s favorite in the Sacramento County Juvenile Detention Center. On those days, the guards unlock the iron doors of his all-male residential unit. After walking through the door, he enters the visiting room, a septic, egg-shell colored area with cement walls and silver metal tables.

Even while wearing a long black gown, Iberia Zafira didn’t feel like a graduate. But when she walked into Stanford University’s football stadium, which holds 50,000 people, and heard the cheers of close friends, Zafira says she realized she had finally reached the end of her collegiate journey.

Over 40 current and former foster youth will meet with congressional members tomorrow as part of an annual Shadow Day. Sponsored by the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, the Shadow Day brings youth from across the country to the nation’s capitol to meet congressional representatives and help them better understand the foster care system.

Santa Cruz, Calif. will be the third pilot site for a national education initiative for foster youth that assigns an “education champion” to each foster youth who enters care. The champions, who will be funded as a pilot program of the National Center For Youth Law’s FosterEd initiative, will preside over the child’s educational rights and maintain educational stability.

A California State Senator introduced a bill last Friday to assist parenting youth in the state’s foster care system with child care resources and parenting programs. Sen. Leland Yee, Ph.D., introduced Senate Bill 528, which would prioritize subsidized child care for parenting foster youth.

Play time for the children at the Bay Area Crisis Nursery can mean watching Toy Story, playing with flashing light-up toys, or sliding down the play escape outside. It also means a break from the stresses the kids and their families have experienced at home, in the hope that such breaks can prevent tension spilling over into abusive or neglectful situations.

When Rhys Gardiner learned about the urgency with which older kids in foster care need loving families before they exit the system alone, she focused her adoption search toward youth on the brink of independence.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation will no longer operate their Casey Family Services (CFS) Program, and instead will provide financial grants to existing foster care providers, the Foundation announced last week.