Thursday, May 24 marked a day when youth voice was alive at the capitol.   It was the "Annual Shadow a Legislator Day" for foster youth leadership advocacy group, California Youth Connection.  Among the excitement of hundreds of elementary school children on a civics field trip of the state capitol, an important announcement was being made by Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Daniel Heimpel, a child welfare journalist and CYC Board Member.   They urged support for two bills, AB 2093 and AB 1712, which will affect the future of foster youth across the state.  In honor of  Foster Care Awareness Month, Skinner's legislation, Assembly Bill 2093 "Foster Youth Higher Education a

When Lily Colby turned 18, she had nowhere else to go. Her foster parents gave her fair warning that she will be on her own. If she did not find a way to survive, she would be homeless. The same fate would have faced her brother, David Colby at 18, but his saving grace was new state legislation AB12, California’s Fostering connections to Success Act, a promise to extend support services to foster youth until the age of 19 in 2012, then to age 20 in 2013. But, a last minute amendment to the original proposal changed the logistics. In an effort to save money when AB12 was passed, legislators phased in the extension of care. With realignment shifting the power from state to counties, 2,16

Sacramento, California – March 15, 2012 – Point West Rotary, one of the largest Rotary clubs in Sacramento, will host its 10th Festa di Vino – A Celebration of Food and Wine – on March 31 at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in Sacramento. When does the opportunity arrive to allow you to dine at 20 restaurants in one night or go on a wine-tasting tour to visit more than 25 of the top local wineries in one day? “Never,” you say. “That’s just not possible.” Well, the time is now. Point West Rotary of Sacramento is providing a special opportunity for you to do just that. On Saturday, March 31 at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center, you can enjoy great food and wine at this 10th Annual Festa di V

Earlier this week, the local owners of six La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores in Northern California donated nearly $12,000 worth of beautiful La-Z-Boy furniture to a privately funded home for recently emancipated foster youth in Placer County.  Purchased by a concerned citizen and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) volunteer, “Taylor House” is a six-bedroom, newly remodeled home located in downtown Roseville.  Once furnished, the home will welcome its first young women residents -- all of whom are no longer able to stay in a foster care environment after turning 18 years of age -- within the next few weeks.    To help furnish the empty home, local La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries owne

SACRAMENTO – As foster youth in the Sacramento area spend the holidays away from home, local residents can ensure they still have stockings and presents to open, thanks to United Way’s Women in Philanthropy and Sacramento County’s Gifts From The Heart program. “I cannot imagine how lonely it must feel to be removed from your home, especially during the holidays,” said Lisa Watts, chair of United Way’s Women in Philanthropy. “This is a fantastic way to give back during the holiday season and know that your gift will brighten the holidays for a hurting child.” Visit www.yourlocalunitedway.org to sign up to bring specific gifts for children in Sacramento County’s Child Protective Services o

November is National Adoption Month.  As the nation recognizes this important social issue, counties and communities across California will promote adoption and permanency awareness through activities and events that bring attention to the needs of the over 25,000 children and youth living in foster care throughout the state waiting for families to love and adopt them. November 3, 2011 is National Adoption Awareness Day.  On November 3, 2011, the month-long effort will kick off, raising awareness about the thousands of children in California waiting for families, celebrating those special people who have provided a loving home to children in foster care, and inspiring others to come forw

Waste Connections, Inc. sponsored and helped fundraise $145,000 during Sierra Forever Families’ seventh annual Golf Classic for Kids tournament at Serrano Country Club on Sept. 12. The funds raised during this year’s tournament will help more than 20 children living in foster care find permanent placements with loving families. This tremendous success of the 2011 tournament would not be as significant without the gracious support of Ron Mittelstaedt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, along with Jerri Hunt, Vice President of Employee Relations, of Waste Connection, Inc. Hunt, who retired from the Board of Directors of Sierra Forever Families in July, served as the four-time Chair of t

 After years of holding the dubious distinction of tearing apart families at one of the highest rates in California, Sacramento County finally has brought its rate of child removal in line with the state average, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday.  But the Bee left out some good news: The two key measures of safety used by the federal government show that, as entries into foster care declined, child safety improved. Apparently even with budget cuts, setting clear standards and doing a better job of weeding out false reports and trivial cases has given workers more time to focus on finding children in real danger. One would think the fact that Sacramento County used to be the child remo

Sacramento CASA is a local nonprofit that helps children who have been removed from their homes because of neglect or abuse and placed in foster care. They are one of more than 1,000 cause-based organizations registered on The Giving Effect that are hoping to connect with new donors this holiday season. Sacramento CASA is hoping people will donate gifts this holiday season that can be distributed to the children in their care. Kimberly Loya, the organization's Development Coordinator, writes, "These supplies are for school and the holiday season. Some of these children do not have a support system that can provide them with all of the items they need for school. They also may not receive

As Harriet Tubman once said, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” On September 11th, as over 200 Sacramento community members gathered at the California Museum to celebrate the 30 years that Lilliput Children's Services has been serving the state's most vulnerable children and their families, Lilliput was humbled to remember exactly who they are helping and why.   Founded in 1980, Lilliput is committed to building families and making dreams come true, and has completed over 4,500 adoptions for California foster children.  Throughout the evening, guests enjoye

THE PEOPLE AT THE CHILDREN’S RECEIVING HOME OF SACRAMENTO MEAN WELL. BUT THEIR PROGRAM HURTS CHILDREN, WASTES MONEY, IMPEDES REAL REFORM, AND HASN’T HAD AN OBJECTIVE EVALUATION IN 66 YEARS. They are among the most sacred cows in all of child welfare, and no wonder. Donors love them. They can get a plaque on the wall for giving money or furniture or, if they're really rich, donating a whole building. The volunteers love them. They can turn real flesh-and-blood human beings into human teddy bears who exist for the volunteers' gratification and convenience, even as they convince themselves they're helping children. When they get bored with their human teddy bears, they simply hand them back

If you are interested in adopting a child, the first step is to educate yourself about adoption and become familiar with the various types of adoption available to you. The most common types of adoptions are: Foster adoptions – The children were placed into child protective custody for their safety and cannot be returned to their birth parents or cared for by extended family. Domestic private adoptions – The children are not in foster care and the adoption is typically handled by a lawyer and the two parties; birth parents and adoptive family. International adoptions – The children are from a foreign country and, again, the adoption is typically handled by a lawyer or international adop

Bias against the birth mother of Amariana Crenshaw led Sacramento County Child Protective Services workers to “discount” her concerns that Amariana was being abused in her foster home, according to an internal review released by CPS Thursday. Amariana was taken from her parents, only to die under mysterious circumstances in a foster home with a long history of serious problems. That is the lead that should have begun the Sacramento Bee’s story today about the release of CPS’ internal investigation into Amariana’s death. But that would contradict the birth parent-bashing “master narrative” that has dominated child welfare coverage in the Bee (as is discussed in this previous post). So no

No one aspires to be a foster child. No child wants to live in a stranger’s home. No brother or sister likes having their family torn apart; losing contact with siblings. No teen chooses an unknown future. Yet, every month, over 2,000 children statewide are placed into protective custody through the foster care system. Over 150 of these children are from Sacramento County. Foster care is designed to be a temporary safety net for children who are unable to live safely with their birth families. Children enter foster care because they have been abused or neglected or have experienced other family problems such as substance abuse, mental illness or a parent’s incarceration. A primary goal

In response to my column last week, about how Sacramento County is the child removal capital of California, an aunt who is providing foster care for a nephew raised several objections. Among other things, she argued that it was unfair of me to lump in relatives providing foster care, known as “kinship care,” with strangers in calculating Sacramento’s rate of removal. In one sense she is right; it’s unfair - unfair to other counties, because it makes Sacramento look too good. When you look only at the proportion of children placed with total strangers, Sacramento actually fares even worse. My previous column documented the extensive research on the inherent trauma of foster care - trauma

Sacramento is now California’s capital in more ways than one.Data released today by the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform show that Sacramento County is the child removal capital of California. Among the state’s larger counties, Sacramento County takes away proportionately more children than any other, when the number of children taken away is compared to the number of impoverished children in each county. Sacramento takes children at a rate nearly double the average for these counties. NCCPR released its latest California Rate of Removal Index Monday. It’s available on our website here. The Index shows that in recent years, much of California has made remarkable progress i

Sierra Forever Families Elects Retired Attorney and Child Advocate Dee Hartzog to the Board of Directors. Sacramento, CA – April 1, 2010 – Sierra Forever Families, Northern California nonprofit and industry leader in youth permanency, elects Dee Hartzog to its Board of Directors. Dee joins the 15 member board led by Eric Ratinoff, partner with Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff. Dee Hartzog is a retired corporate attorney, having practiced 23 years with Weintraub, Genshlea & Chediak, a Sacramento law firm. Even before retirement, she began to realize the importance for a child to grow up in a loving and caring environment, both for the child and the community. “I am extremely motivated by Sier

November is National Adoption Month – Sacramento Shows its Commitment to Our Children November 12 - Sacramento, California – Nationally, November is recognized at National Adoption Month. With nearly 500,000 children and youth living in foster across the country there is a tremendous need for families to come forward. In California, there are over 62,000 children and youth living in foster care and, of that, over 4,000 lived in the Greater Sacramento Region. As the capital of California, Sacramento is committed to the children of our state who are living in foster care and are awaiting a permanent family. For many of these children, they have been removed from their birth families due to

For the past 18 years, Sacramento Child Advocates (SCA) has been providing representation for every child entering our dependency court system in Sacramento County.  Currently, we represent 4700 children within the dependency system and we never turn down any child brought before the court.  SCA was established in Sacramento to be their “voice”, their personal advocate with a very determined mission.  SCA does this through a unique model of using both attorneys and social workers.  Foster youth who are represented in this manner truly have a partner in designing their future, someone they can trust, someone that is always looking out for their best interests.  When a child is removed from

April 2, 2009 – Sacramento, California - Sierra Adoption Services, a leader in providing permanence to children living in foster care, launched a brand new customer-focused, interactive website this week. The site, www.sierraff.org, which can also be accessed through www.sierraadoption.org, is designed in to meet the needs of our stakeholders, resource families and youth living in foster care. “The agency was in desperate need of a new website,” said Bob Herne, Executive Director for Sierra Adoption Services. “Created by a volunteer over 10 years, the site had become antiquated; limiting how we update and maintain important communication to our stakeholders and prospective families.” Sie