For the past three or four years, many of us have been running against the tide of attempts to cut the funding to support former foster youth through supportive housing services. 2011 is no different. Last year, the state passed a landmark legislation designed to substantially boost services and supports for foster youth aging out of the foster care system. After two years of hard work and negotiations, AB12 was passed and signed into law by then Governor Schwarzenegger. This bill allows foster youth to receive services up to age 21. All of us who work with foster youth celebrated this as a monumental step towards ameliorating decades of maltreatment of foster youth.
Unfortunately, before the celebration could hardly gain momentum, the State Department of Social Services and the Department of Finance initiated efforts through the Governor's Budget to basically kill the legislation by gutting the funding necessary to implement new services and slam the door on existing programs. If they get their way, 1,000 foster youth will be forced into homelessness, with another 2,000 to 3,000 denied essential services! Once again, foster care will become a one-way ticket to homelessness, despair, and regrettable outcomes. Vulnerable children victimized by abuse and neglect will be again discarded like useless, second-class citizens.
Please make your voice heard in support of California's foster youth as soon as possible! Make a phone call, send a fax, letter or e-mail asking the Governor and key legislators to keep the THP+ budget whole.
For more information please contact the Family Care Network at (805) 781-3535 or info@fcni.org.