Ourr'irr'iitt6e Aijenda Date Jvlay 1 Ci. 2Cin6

County of Santa Clara
Social Services Agency

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Department of Family and Children's Services

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CSFC SSA06 051006

Prepared by; Randy Parker
Social Work Supervisor

Reviewed by: Norma Doctor Sparks
Director, Department of Family
and Children's Services

DATE:

May 10, 2006

TO:

Supervisor James T. Beall, Jr., Chairperson
Supervisor Don Gage, Vice-Chaiiperson
Children, Seniors & Families Committee

FROM:

Will Lightbourne
Agency Director, Social Services Agency
SUBJECT: Foster Youth Initiative Recommendations

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Accept Foster Youth Initiative recommendations.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no fiscal implications associated with the recommended action.

Board of yujueivisof Dcnald F. Cage, Blanca Alvaradci, Peta fi.'tcHugh, Jim Beall, Liz Kni
L ountv' E;:ecutive' Peter Kutras Jr.
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Committee Agenda Date :May 1 0, 2006

CONTRACT HISTORY

Not Applicable.
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATTON

The Children, Seniors and Families Committee requested recommendations for the Foster
Youth Initiative.

BACKGROUND

The Social Service Agency's Department of Family and Childrens' Services is working with
two simultaneous processes to lead to enhancements and improvements in programs to assist
foster youth transition successfully to independent living. The two processes are the Foster
Youth Employment Task Force(FYETF), convened by Supervisor Beall and Deputy County
Executive Nathan, and the California Connected by 25 Initiative(CC25)that Santa Clara and
seven other California eounties are participating in. The FYETF is developing overall guiding
principles that will be used to establish broad goals for the effort, while the CC25 process

involves multiple workgroups of subject matter experts and stakeholders that are developing
specific multi-year action steps that will begin implementation in Fiscal Year 2008. The
FYEFT guiding principles are anticipated to be completed by the end of May, at which point
the Agency will integrate them with the emerging CC25 action steps described below, and
return to the Committee in August with a detailed implementation plan.
One action step that has already been identified as consistent in both the FYETF and CC25
deliberations is the need for a dedicated employment support unit within DFCS, and as a
consequence the Agency is working with the Employment Services Agency(ESA)to
reclassify three vacant social work positions as employment positions.

The following, for the Committee's information, are the tentative first year actions identified
by the CC25 workgroups;
1. Continuum of Care Housing Workgroup
Recommended Actions:

a. Submit application for Transitional Housing Program-Plus(THP+)in Santa Clara
County.

Board of Supervisors: Donald F. Gage, Blanca Alvarado, Pete McHugh, Jim Beall, Lii Kniss
Count',' Executive. Peter Kutras Jr.

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Committeti Agenda Date :Mav 1 0, 2006

b. Establish linkages to the Foster Youth Housing Initiative providers for 20 youth,
c. Develop housing needs assessment for 17 year old foster youths.
2. Training and Employment Workgroup
Recommended Actions:

a. Establish a Career Pathways Project with Mission Community and San Jose City
Community Colleges to serve 40 youth,
b. Increase foster youth involved in One-Stop Centers and the DECS Work Experience
program,

c. Develop outreach strategies for emancipated foster youth,

d. Develop a single training and employment assessment tool for foster youth that would
be consistently administered by SVWIN and a pre-assessment screening process to
identify youth with different training or employment needs,
e. Establish an Employment Counseling Unit within DECS.
3. Financial Literacy Workgroup
Recommended Actions:

a. Develop a youth mentor program,
b. Develop a financial literacy curriculum,
c. Develop an Individual Development Account(IDA)program and create 30 accounts for
younger foster youth,
d. Establish partnerships with banks, former and existing foster youth, and community
boards,

e. Identify "door opener" opportunities for youth (e.g., discounts, preferred access to
services, etc.),

f Conduct survey to identify foster youths' needs in regards to financial literacy,

g. Request Board of Supervisor approval to allocate $30,000 ($10,000 a year for 3 years)
to match the grant previously approved by the Walter S. Johnson Foundation in the
amount of $30,000($10,000 a year for 3 years) for Foster Youth Savings Accounts.
4. K-12 Education Workgroup
Recommended Actions:

Board of.Supervisors: Donald F. Gage, Blanca Alvarado, Pete McHugh, Jinn Beall, Liz Kniss
Count',' Executive: Peter Kutras Jr.

3

Committee Agenda Date :May 10, 2UU6

a. Develop partnerships with the Eastside Union High Sehool District to assist 30 foster
youth in a pilot program to improve math and reading skills,
b. Develop educational rights training,
c. Develop, test and implement educational needs assessments for foster youth ages 14-24
years old.
d. Develop a literacy and math skills plan for foster youth ages 14-24 years old.
e. Partner with School Linked Services to maximize services to foster youth in certain
schools,

f Implement DECS policies and procedures to improve CWS/CMS educational data for
foster youth,
g. Request standing court orders and develop Memoranda of Understanding to address
confidentiality issues and to facilitate communication about students between schools and
DECS,

h. Develop policies and procedures to facilitate the timely transfer of students' records
when foster youth move and a student transfer notification system to ensure prompt
enrollment of foster children and youth.
5. Resource Utilization and Development Workgroup
Recommended Actions:

a. Develop an Early Independent Life Skills Education and Outreach Program for existing
foster youth ages 14-15 years old.
b. Strengthen integration of services and communication among present Independent
Living Program service providers, youths' social workers and caregivers,
c. Develop education and training for caregivers of existing foster youth ages 14-18 years
old.

d. Examine and modify as necessary the content of the current Independent Living
Program curriculum and activities to ensure that the program supports relevant skills for
all existing foster youth ages 16 to 18 years old.
e. Assess all foster youths' needs ages 14-18 years old to ensure the availability of critical
support services to enable youth to maximize their participation in educational,
employment and housing opportunities (e.g., counseling, childcare, and legal services).
6. Joint Decision-Making Workgroup

Board of Supervisors: Donald F. Gage, Blanca Alvarado, Pete McHugh, Jim Beall, Liz Knlss
County' E:K:ecutlve: Peter Kutras Jr.
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Cotrimittee Agenda Date :May 1 0, 2006

Recommended Action:

a. Require an Emancipation Conference Plan to ensure that all foster youth have periodic
conferences beginning as young as age 14 to help the youth successfully acquire life skills
required for productive adulthood, including accomplishing educational and career
objectives, within the context of a stable living environment and necessary supportive
services.

7. Family Finding Workgroup
Recommended Actions:

a. Identify best practices to ensure permanency for youth,
b. Link foster youth ages 14-18 years old with caring committed adults,
c. Develop permanency and resiliency training for DFCS staff and other CC25 partners.
8. DFCS Initiatives Data

Recommended Action(s):

a. Maximize use of the current data system CWS/CMS to track data concerning education,
employment and housing for all foster youth ages 14-18 years old.

b. Implement new data system to be used by the five participating CC25 counties to enter
more comprehensive data concerning education, employment and housing on emancipated
foster youth up to age 25.
CONSEQUENCES OF NEGATTVE ACTION

The Children, Seniors and Families Committee would not accept recommendations for the
Foster Youth Initiative.

STEPS FOLEOWTNG APPROVAL

The Clerk of the Baird will follow the usual procedures for a report of this type.

Boiard of yijpetvisors; Donald F. Gage, Blanca Alvarado, Pete McHugh, Jlrn Beall, Liz Kniss
Countv' Executive: Peter Kutras Jr.

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