California Connected By 25 INITIATIVE
Building Partnerships & Improved Outcomes for Transitioning Foster Youth
Annually, the US has about 700,000 children in out-of-home, state-supervised care, 85,000 of whom are in California. Placing children in out-of-home settings (i.e. with a foster family or in a group home) is considered a last resort, and is only used when a child’s family is incapable or unwilling to provide a safe home. For most children, foster care is temporary. About half the children who enter the foster care system exit with 17 months. Approximately 40 percent are reunited with their families within two years of entering care. Many younger children also exit the system through adoption and legal guardianship. For a growing number of children, foster care may last their entire childhood. When these youth leave care (emancipate) at age 18, they have no support system or caring adult to help them transition to independent living. These youth are a minority of all teens in the foster care system, but they have much worse outcomes. Research shows that these youth: - Are more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system;
- Are at a higher risk of teen pregnancy and parenting;
- Have lower reading and math skills and high school graduation rates;
- Have disproportionately higher rates of physical, developmental, and mental health problems;
- Are more likely to be homeless;
- Have higher rates of alcohol and other drug abuse; and
- Have higher rates of unemployment and likelihood of dependence on public assistance.
California Connected by 25 (CC25) works with child welfare agencies in eight California counties to build comprehensive services for emancipating foster youth. CC25 counties coordinate their K-12 education, employment, training and postsecondary education, supportive housing, workforce development, and personal/social asset development services. Co-funded by the Annie E. Casey, Walter S. Johnson, and Hewlett foundations, CC25 builds on the Casey foundation’s Family to Family foster care initiative in 25 California counties and the state’s overhaul of its child welfare system by extending Family to Family services to emancipating foster youth in Stanislaus, San Francisco, Glenn, Fresno, Santa Clara, Humboldt, Orange and Solano counties. For more information, visit California Connected by 25's website: www.f2f.ca.gov/California25.htm
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