We have good news to report! SB 1576 successfully made it through the Senate Human Services Committee yesterday. Thank you to all who wrote support letters for the bill and spoke in support at the hearing. A special thanks go to the youth of First Place, Project Independence, and Eldorado County who attended the event and educated the Senators about the real impact THP-Plus makes in their lives.

The next step in the process is for SB 1576 to be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee sometime in the next few weeks. In preparation for that, you can do three things:

1. Send in a letter of support to Appropriations Chair Kevin Murray, in case you have not already. Click here for a sample letter.

2. Participate in visits with members of the Appropriations Committee. Contact Amy at afreeman@fosteryouthalliance.org if you are interested.

3. Plan on attending the Appropriations Committee Meeting. The date is not set yet, but they are normally held on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. We will send out an action alert when we know more details.

Thank you for your support.

Amy Freeman
Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance
510 444-4025 ext. 235
afreeman@fosteryouthalliance.org

Michele Byrnes
Honoring Emancipated Youth (HEY)
415 808-4284
mbyrnes@uwba.org

Amy Lemley
John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes
510 261-5774
amy_lemley@sbcglobal.net

Don’t miss FYA’s Resources in the Community and Staff Networking event, which will be held Tuesday, May 9th, from 9:30 until 12:30 at ILSP, 2647 International Blvd, Suite 312, Oakland. This is a great opportunity to meet your counterparts at other agencies, share ideas, and support each other’s work.

Berkeley Center for Independent Living will be on hand to talk about accessing SSI benefits and services available for people with disabilities. There will also be discussion about how to ensure MediCal rolls over for your youth until age 21.

Click here for a flyer to post in your agency.

Also coming up: the FYA Brown Bag Series for Management Staff presents “Conducting Effective Evaluations.” This training will be held on Thursday, May 4th, from 12:00-2:00 at Ross House, the conference room of Casey Family Programs, located at 485 Ninth Street, Oakland, near the 12th Street BART.

These trainings are joint projects of FYA, Seneca Center and The Chabot FKCE. Click here for a listing of upcoming trainings.

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

In recognition of National Foster Care Month, City Visions will examine the issue of foster care and look into current initiatives to improve opportunities for children and youth in foster care. On the panel will be former State President Pro Tem Senator John Burton, who has recently launched a state-wide effort to address the needs of foster youth, along with foster youth advocate Amy Lemley, SFSU professor Sonja Lenz Rashid and a former foster youth. Together, they will discuss the challenges foster youth face and recent legislative and programmatic efforts to address them.

Please join us for an engaging look into the needs of a growing, yet largely overlooked part of the San Francisco communtiy.

This Friday, April 28th from 6-8 p.m.,, The Bay Area Heart Gallery Gala will be held at Oakland City Hall, 3rd floor, Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. The exhibit runs from April 24 to May 12. Open to the public, 8:30-5:00 PM, Mon-Fri.

Click here to download an article about the Gallery, including photographs, from the 4.24.06 SF Chronicle.

The Youth Aide position is an entry-level position while the Program Aide position requires more experience and the Site Coordinator position requires a BA and supervisory experience. Click here for the Youth Aide job announcement, click here for the Program Aide announcement, and click here for the Site Coordinator announcement. Deadline to apply is May 4th.

Click here to read an editorial from today’s SF Chronicle about AB2216, which would change the way the state oversees and coordinates foster care.

Click here to read an article from the 4.24.06 Oakland Tribune about the California High School Exit Exam.

Register now for the October 18-19 conference, Adolescence and the Transition to Adulthood: Rethinking the Safety Net for Vulnerable Young Adults. This two-day national conference at the University of Chicago's Gleacher Center in downtown Chicago will consist of six in-depth panel discussions on young adults with health, mental health, and special education needs, immigrant youth, and youth involved with the criminal justice and child welfare systems. The registration fee of $125 includes refreshments and evening reception on October 18, and breakfast and lunch on October 19. The 2004 Adolescence and Transition to Adulthood conference filled up quickly, so register now to secure a spot.

Adolescence and the Transition to Adulthood: Rethinking the Safety Net for Vulnerable Young Adults, which builds on the 2004 research and public policy conference co-sponsored by Chapin Hall and the MacArthur Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood and Public Policy, will bring together researchers, practitioners, and the policy community to offer a comprehensive picture of early adulthood for those without family support or for those whose physical, mental, or behavioral problems create special barriers to independence. It will draw on the framework and ideas contained in a forthcoming volume, On Your Own without a Net, edited by Network researchers D. Wayne Osgood, E. Michael Foster, Constance Flanagan, and Gretchen Ruth.

To register, visit the Chapin Hall website by clicking here.