Community

NATIONAL | CALIFORNIA | WASHINGTON STATE

NATIONAL

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is responsible for federal programs that promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities. ACF programs aim to achieve the following:

families and individuals empowered to increase their own economic independence and productivity.
strong, healthy, supportive communities that have a positive impact on the quality of life and the development of children.
partnerships with individuals, front-line service providers, communities, American Indian tribes, Native communities, states, and Congress that enable solutions which transcend traditional agency boundaries; services planned, reformed, and integrated to improve needed access.
a strong commitment to working with people with developmental disabilities, refugees, and migrants to address their needs, strengths, and abilities.

The primary mission of the Annie E. Casey Foundation is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families. In pursuit of this goal, the Foundation makes grants that help states, cities and neighborhoods fashion more innovative, cost-effective responses to these needs.

Casey Family Programs is the nation’s largest operating foundation entirely focused on foster care. Since 1966, they have worked to provide and improve—and ultimately prevent the need for—foster care in the United States. As advocates for change, they are committed to their 2020 Strategy – an ambitious yet attainable goal to safely reduce the number of children in foster care and improve the lives of those who remain in care.

CWLA is a powerful coalition of hundreds of private and public agencies serving vulnerable children and families since 1920. Their expertise, leadership and innovation on policies, programs, and practices help improve the lives of millions of children in all 50 states. Their impact is felt worldwide.

Foster Care Alumni of America is a national non-profit association that has been founded and is led by alumni of the foster care system. They use the term alumni to describe those of us who have been in foster care during our childhood/youth.The mission of FCAA is to connect the alumni community and provide opportunities for alumni to know each other, to share support and information, and to become an extended family for each other. Whether attending meetings, responding to chat rooms, or participating in event, they share their alumni stories and experiences as well as build networks of friendship across the nation.

Foster Club is the national network for young people in foster care. Foster Club helps open the way for these young people to transform their lives and provides a forum to raise their voice. Members engage with peers and regain control over their situation through support, skill building, and healing opportunities. Foster Club’s young leaders achieve impressive levels of success as they demonstrate remarkable resilience. Here they have real life opportunities to become true heroes as they reach back to improve the foster care system for their younger peers.

The Fostering Connections Resource Center is a gathering place of information, training and tools related to furthering the implementation of the Fostering Connections law. Specifically, the Resource Center aims to connect implementers with the latest information and the best experts and advocates working on these issues.

As a national foundation, the mission of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunity Initiative is to bring together the people, systems, and resources necessary to assist youth leaving foster care make successful transitions to adulthood through: making grants, providing technical assistance, and advocating for improved policies and practices. The Initiative is working in the following sites: Atlanta, Georgia; Hartford/Bridgeport Connecticut; Des Moines, Iowa; Indianapolis, Indiana, Maine; Detroit/Wayne County and Northern Michigan; Hawaii, Omaha, Nebraska, Nashville, Tennessee; Rhode Island; San Diego, California; and Tampa, Florida.

The Journalism Center on Children & Families (JCCF) inspires and recognizes exemplary reporting in children and families, especially the disadvantaged. Since 1993, over 14,000 thousand print, broadcast and online journalists have attended their intensive training programs and relied on them for balanced information and resources. The Center is a nonprofit program of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Journalism Center is committed to making sure stories on the social issues that face our nation get told and get noticed. Their resources and training ensure that journalists get the help they need.

The National Foster Care Coalition (NFCC) is a broadly based national, nonpartisan partnership of individuals, organizations, foundations, and associations dedicated to improving the lives of the more than half a million children currently in the foster care system and the millions more who have been, or will be, involved in the foster care system.

CALIFORNIA

The Alliance for Children’s Rights provides free legal services and advocacy to protect the rights of impoverished and abused children and youth so that they have safe, stable homes, health care and the education they need to thrive. Since their founding in 1992, they’ve served over 80,000 children and youth in Los Angeles County. For many of their clients, The Alliance is the only connection to a safer, brighter future.

California Youth Connection (CYC) is guided, focused and driven by current and former foster youth with the assistance of other committed community members. CYC promotes the participation of foster youth in policy development and legislative change to improve the foster care system, and strives to improve social work practice and child welfare policy. CYC Chapters in counties throughout the state identify local issues and use grassroots and community organizing to create change.

The Guardian Scholars Program is a comprehensive program that supports former foster youth in their efforts to gain a university, community college or trade school education. The program leverages the expertise and resources of the private sector and public agencies to achieve significant synergies to support students effectively and cost-efficiently.

Since 1984, Kinship Center has helped create and support families for thousands of children of all ages: those who can no longer remain safely with their birth parents because of abuse and neglect, and also those who are voluntarily relinquished for adoption as infants by their birth parents. Kinship Center is headquartered in Salinas, California with facilities and services in eleven Southern California, Central Coast and Northern California counties.

Public Counsel is the largest pro bono public interest law firm in the world. Founded in 1970, Public Counsel is dedicated to advancing equal justice under law by delivering free legal and social services to the most vulnerable members of our community, including abused and abandoned children, homeless families and veterans, senior citizens, victims of consumer fraud and nonprofit organizations serving low-income communities.

The Stuart Foundation is dedicated to the protection, education and development of children and youth. They work toward ensuring that all children grow up in caring families, learn in vibrant and effective schools, and have opportunities to become productive members of their communities. They focus our investments on projects, programs and organizations making an impact in the States of California and Washington.

WASHINGTON STATE

Partners for our Children brings together the best minds from the academic and child-welfare communities, state leadership and the private sector for one purpose: to improve the lives of children in foster care in Washington State. They are a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, the University of Washington School of Social Work and private sector funding.

Since 1988, Treehouse for Kids has filled the gaps for kids in foster care, providing services that no other agency addresses: money for extra-curricular activities and summer camp, professional educational support services, resources to fully participate in the everyday activities of growing up, clothing and supplies to help them fit in at school. Treehouse programs offer kids in foster care what all children so desperately need: a safe place to dream.