California Youth Connection: A Powerful Policy Voice

From CYC

I was reminded of how much legislative effort it takes to advance and maintain policies on behalf of youth as I read California Youth Connection’s Legislative Agenda for 2014.

CYC is very clear on its priority for 2014 – making sure that kids in foster care can see their siblings. According to their fact sheet: Although the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 made it a priority that siblings entering the foster care system would be kept together, just over half of foster youth are placed with all of their siblings.

SB1099, sponsored by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, addresses gaps in previous legislation, including guidelines so that everyone in the system is very clear that children in foster care have a right to see their siblings.

CYC’s legislative agenda doesn’t stop there. They are deploying their unique capital in the policy world, the voices of foster care youth and alumnae, in partnership with other organizations. The following is from their legislative agenda:

CYC is collaborating with the following organizations on their priority legislation this year:

• John Burton Foundation, SB 1023 (Liu): Would expand support services for foster youth in higher education through alterations to the existing EOPS system in California's community colleges. 
• Public Counsel, AB 388 (Chesbro): Would address the issues of youth's exposure to juvenile delinquency proceedings while in the care of a group home. 
• Alliance for Children's Rights, AB 1882 (Cooley): Would provide greater equity for relative caregivers in the foster care system. 

CYC is supporting a variety of other legislation as well, including:

• AB 2035 (Chesbro): commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) 
• AB 2454 (Quirk-Silva): AB 12 clean-up 
• AB 2228 (Cooley): crisis nurseries 
• AB 1761 (Hall): relative placements 
• AB 2607 (Skinner): dual status children 
• AB 2668 (Quirk-Silva): SILPs for parenting non-minor dependents 
• AB 1878 (Stone): data sharing 
• SB 1296 (Leno): truancy 
• AB 2001 (Ammiano): homeless youth 
• AB 1441 (Stone): partial credits 
• SB 1136 (Huff-Mitchell): foster care provider criminal records 
• SB 1252 (Torres): transitional housing up to age 26 

CYC is working with several groups on funding issues related to the following issue areas:

• foster parent recruitment and retention 
• CSEC 
• relative caregiver equity 
• alignment of FYS and LCFF populations 
• dependency attorney caseloads 

CYC is also getting involved in education. A new funding system is being introduced in California called Local Control Funding Formula. In this system, youth in foster care are one of the three special populations that are to receive additional funding under the formula. (How did I miss this—this is a major win for foster youth!) CYC is deploying their regional staff to support chapters in overseeing implementation. You can find more on CYC’s local advocacy efforts here.

Bravo to CYC and all its partners in California! If I were still a funder, I’d be investing in alumnae organizations for juvenile justice and students that re-enrolled after being pushed out of or leaving school. It’s a powerful force – one that few legislators are able to ignore.