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Action Needed: Sign on to End Practice of Placing Foster Children into Poverty

News, Step Up Coalition /

A coalition of advocates is circulating a sign-on letter calling on the California State Legislature to end the current policy of placing foster children into deep poverty. Under the current system, a relative caregiver receives a foster care benefit if the child is federally-eligible. If not, the relative caregiver may apply for the state welfare benefit […]

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Alliance Completes First-of-its-Kind Adoption

Foster Care Adoption, News /

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

Healthcare, News /

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

News, Policy Matters /

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

Education, News, Policy Matters /

“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

News, Policy Matters /

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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New Federal Legislation has Good Intentions, but Doesn’t Fix Group Home Problem

News, Policy Matters /

On September 18, 2013, Senator Orrin Hatch introduced S. 1518, otherwise known as the Improving Outcomes for Youth at Risk for Sex Trafficking Act of 2013. The legislation is intended to reduce time foster youth spend in congregate care such as group homes. S. 1518 includes some positive measures, such as a requirement that states

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