The next FYA Professional Development Training will focus on "Working with LGBTQ Youth" and will be held Tuesday, April 11th, from 9:30 until 12:30 at ILSP, 2647 International Blvd, Suite 312, Oakland. This training is a joint project of FYA, Seneca Center and The Chabot FKCE. Click here for a schedule of upcoming trainings.

To RSVP, email Amy Freeman at afreeman@fosteryouthalliance.org or call 510-444-4025, x235.

Alameda County Social Services Agency (SSA) seeks proposals from community-based organizations, as well as public or private, for-profit or non-profit agencies, to provide Emancipation Training and Support Services in Fiscal Year 2006/2007 to qualified probation and foster youth in the Independent Living Skills Program (ILSP) from ages 15½ though emancipation, in accordance with legislated program requirements. SSA is seeking to purchase services in sufficient capacity to provide services to all eligible program participants. In anticipation of changes to the ILSP and funding levels, this solicitation of proposals is limited to Fiscal Year 2006/2007. However, SSA reserves the option to extend any contracts entered into as a result of this solicitation for up to two (2) additional years.

The Social Services Agency provides services through the ILSP office at 2647 International Blvd, Suite 312, in Oakland. Classes are also provided 4 nights per week at the Chabot College campus in Hayward, through arrangement with Chabot College Administration. The ILSP office serves the northern part of Alameda County; the Chabot Campus classes serve the southern and eastern parts of Alameda County. The SSA preference is to award one (1) emancipation services contract for both sites.

The total amount of funds for Emancipation Training and Support is $580,000 for the twelve-month period of July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007.

A Bidder’s Conference is scheduled for Thursday, April 6, 2006, 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, in the Tilden Room, 4th Floor, Thomas L. Berkley Building, 2000 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, CA.

Social Services Agency-Children and Family Services staff will be available to respond to questions about the RFP. It is strongly recommended that all bidders attend this conference.

Copies of the RFP will not be mailed. The RFP may be downloaded from the Social Services Agency website at www.alamedasocialservices.org.

If you need additional information, please contact Alameda County SSA/CFS Contracts Coordinator, Camille Thompson at cthompso@acgov.org or 510-267-8633.

Click here for a copy of the ILSP Letter of Interest.

The 4th Annual “SCHOOL’S OUT” Family & Children’s Resource Fair

Learn about after-school and summer camp programs.
There will be over 80 Exhibitors.
Enrollments on the spot!

Friday, April 7th , 2006
12:00 to 6:00 pm.

Eastmont Town Center, 73rd & Bancroft, Ground Floor

For More Information please contact the Office of Councilmember Desley Brooks at (510) 238-7006 or via email at dbrooks@oaklandnet.com.

Click here for a flyer.

From Home at Last:

Over the past two years, sixteen states have established - or expressed a commitment to create - high level inter-agency/governmental initiatives to ensure that the courts and child welfare agencies responsible for children in foster care work together to improve the lives of and outcomes for these children.

A new chart on the Home At Last Website summarizes the collaboration efforts underway on a state by state basis and includes contact information for those interested in learning more. The chart demonstrates that, across the nation, states are engaged in a variety of efforts - from the Children's Cabinet in Arizona to the Washington State Commission on Children in Foster Care - to improve their foster care systems and ensure the safety, permanence, and well-being of the children in their care.

The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care recognized the critical need for collaborative leadership in taking steps to reform our nation's foster care system. In their report, "Fostering the Future: Safety, Permanence and Well-Being for Children in Foster Care," the Pew Commission recommended that "Congress require the development of multi-disciplinary, broad-based commissions on children in foster care, ideally co-convened by the state's Chief Justice and child welfare agency director.... These commissions can monitor and report on the extent to which child welfare programs and courts are responsive to the needs of the children in their joint care. They can also broaden public awareness of and support for meeting the needs of vulnerable children and families."

The Pew Commission’s recommendations regarding our court system identify changes in policy that could improve the way child welfare cases are handled in thousands of courts throughout the nation:

• To ensure that children’s rights to safety, permanence and well-being are met in a timely and complete manner, courts must have the ability to track children’s progress, identify groups of children in need of attention and identify sources of delay in court proceedings.

• To protect children and promote their well-being, courts and public agencies should be required to demonstrate effective collaboration as a condition for receiving federal funds.

• To safeguard children’s best interests in dependency court proceedings, children and their parents must have a direct voice in court, effective representation, and the timely input of those who care about them.

• To provide adequate direction and recognition of the critical importance of dependency courts, Chief Justices and state court leadership must act as champions for children in their court systems and in making sure these recommendations are enacted

The chart can be accessed at the Home At Last website, www.fostercarehomeatlast.org.