On Tuesday, February 14th, from 9:30-12:30, the FYA Professional Development Training will focus on “Youth Safety: Preventing Self-Injurious Behavior.”

This training will be held at the ILSP office, 2647 International Blvd., Suite 312, Oakland.

Click here for the schedule of upcoming trainings.

This training is a joint project of FYA, Seneca Center, and Chabot FKCE. To RSVP, email Amy Freeman at afreeman@fosteryouthalliance.org or call 510-444-4025, x235.

Money Management Click here for the flyer.
An exciting new opportunity on Mondays that teaches:
Budgeting
Opening a Checking/Savings Account
Balancing a Checkbook
Determining your credit score/worthiness

Life Coaching
Finding Life, Freedom & Purpose by:
Defining your goals
Finding your path
Discovering your inner strength
Developing Healthy Relationships & Positive Connections
(Call Pivotal Point for more info: 510-536-6604.)

Contact training@senecacenter.org or call (510) 317 -1446, ext. 411 with any questions.

Chapin Hall will host a web conference on March 1st. For details, click here.

From the Chapin Hall website:

This event is the first of a new monthly web conference series on child and family policy–CHARTING A COURSE–moderated by Martha Shirk, co-author of On Their Own: What Happens to Kids When They Age Out of the Foster Care System, and a former reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

During the last four decades, the transition to adulthood has become more protracted. Many young people depend on their parents well beyond the age of eighteen for financial help, health insurance, or a place to live. For former foster youth with no families to count on as they move into adulthood, the challenges can be particularly difficult, especially when publicly-funded services end.

Recent research conducted by Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago suggests that youth who are permitted to remain in care and continue to receive services past their eighteenth birthdays fare much better than those who leave the child welfare system at eighteen. This web seminar will present an overview of the new research and provide state lawmakers, policy-makers, advocates, and others with an opportunity to learn about the experiences of states that allow youth to remain in foster care past their eighteenth birthdays.

Panelists Include:

• Mark E. Courtney, Principal Investigator, The Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth and Director of Chapin Hall Center for Children

• Amy Dworsky, Project Director, The Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth

• Erwin McEwen, Deputy Director, Monitoring/Quality Assurance, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

• Jenny Pokempner, Senior Attorney, Juvenile Law Center and Author of Dependent Youth Aging Out of Foster Care: A Guide for Judges

• Lawrence Grazian, Director of Policy Initiatives, Child Protection Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois

• Sybil Thomas, Judge, Child Protection Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois

The screenings will take place at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, located at 339 11th Street in Richmond. Light dinner and child care provided. Please call 415.553.2293 with inquiries

TROOP 1500: At the Gatesville Prison in Texas, a unique Girl Scout troop unites daughters with mothers who have been convicted of serious crimes. Facing steep sentences from the courts and tough questions from their children, the mothers struggle to rebuild relationships with the daughters who endure a childhood without them. TROOP 1500 is directed by Ellen Spiro and Karen Bernstein.

This Richmond Community Media series event is made possible by grants from Chevron as part of the Bay Area Mosaic project. Troop 1500 will air on KQED Channel 9 with the award winning PBS series Independent Lens in March.