November 2013

50,000 Adopted as Part of National Adoption Day

The Alliance celebrated the adoption of 144 Los Angeles foster children into new families on Friday, November 22 as part of National Adoption Day (NAD).  In its 14th year, NAD hit an important milestone with 50,000 children officially joining their forever families as part of the event since 2000. As a NAD co-founder, the Alliance …

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Alliance Completes First-of-its-Kind Adoption

On Thursday, November 21, the Alliance completed California’s first non-minor dependent adoption, which was made possible through extended foster care under AB 12. Since young people can now stay in foster care until age 21, they are also eligible for adoption until 21. Twenty year-old Michele, “Shelly,” was born with cerebral palsy and entered foster …

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Teeth Mean a New Start for Christopher

Approximately 35% of children and teens enter foster care with significant oral health problems. Many children enter the foster care system with problems like bottle tooth decay, cavities and premature gum disease due to neglect and abuse. Three-year-old Christopher, whom the Alliance met through our Children’s Health and Advocacy Clinic, a medical-legal partnership with LAC …

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Recent Study Links Child Maltreatment to Self-Sufficiency Gap

A study conducted in California over seven years that examined the relationship between unemployment and child maltreatment was recently published, and showed rather surprising results. The study encompassed all 58 counties of California, with a special emphasis on San Mateo, covering the period from 2005 to 2012, which notably includes the years of the deep …

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Invisible Education Achievement Gap Between Foster Youth & Peers

“The Invisible Achievement Gap,” a landmark study funded by The Stuart Foundation, was released this October. The report, which connects statewide education data to child welfare data, is titled thus because its findings show that children in the foster care system often have specialized education needs that go unrecognized and unmet, leading them to fall …

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New Look at Official Federal Measures of Poverty

A recently released study conducted by researchers from the Public Policy Institute of California and the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality utilized a new model, called the California Poverty Measure, to offer a more accurate and complete picture of poverty in California by taking into account factors ignored by the official U.S. Census Bureau …

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