JBAY Helps Bring $6.6 Million to Serve Homeless Youth in the Oakland Area
Oakland has some of the highest cost real estate in the state. The San Francisco Chronicle recently featured an Oakland home that was sold for $1 million over the asking price. This is just one example of the out-of-control housing market that has left many homeless, including youth. On any given night, over 800 youth […]
Board Profile: Tony Ruch, Beating the Odds and Making a Difference
Tony Ruch is a successful Bay Area attorney and a long-standing member of the JBAY Board of Directors. His commitment to JBAY comes from his first-hand experience with the foster care system and a desire to make a difference in the lives of young people like himself. Tony was removed from his home and placed […]
The JBAY Difference: Implementation!
The recently passed state budget included a historic level of funding for youth who have been in foster care or homeless. The press releases have been sent and the photo-ops are over. So, what’s next? Implementation! At JBAY, we pride ourselves on policy implementation. We don’t stop until we know that the policy changes we […]
JBAY Works To Eliminate Racial Disparities in Financial Aid Access for Foster Youth
Four years ago, JBAY launched the California Foster Youth FAFSA Challenge to increase the number of foster youth who enroll in college after high school graduation. The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Together with the California Dream Act for undocumented students, the FAFSA is the all-important application that unlocks both state […]
JBAY Youth Advocates: A Guiding Light for Social Change
Patrick Gem Gabbett is a Youth Advocate at John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY). Like so many former foster youth, he wants to make the world a better place, better than it was for him as he was growing up. For Patrick, that means earning a degree in Library Science from Sacramento City College. “I […]
JBAY Helps Foster Youth Receive Federal Pandemic Relief
Former foster youth across California are starting to get much-needed pandemic financial assistance, thanks to the efforts of a statewide coalition of advocates, including John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY). Late last year, JBAY met with members of Congress to make the case that foster youth needed financial support to address pandemic-related job loss, housing […]
State Budget Includes Record-Level Investments in Youth Who Have Been in Foster Care or Homeless
The results are in and the news is good: on July 16th, Governor Newsom signed the California State budget. It includes record-level investments in youth who have been in foster care or homeless, including 12 proposals championed by John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY). Together, these 12 budget items total $512 million in new investment […]
JBAY Launches Statewide Training for Foster Parents
College planning starts early for many children, with college visits, test preparation and carefully selected courses. That is often not the case for foster youth, like JBAY Youth Advocate Emmerald Evans. College wasn’t a topic raised in her foster home and despite good grades and a strong desire to attend college, she didn’t think that […]
Are We There Yet?!
Like a long summer road trip, the process of systems-change can seem interminable! Here at John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY), helping foster youth enroll and succeed in college is one of our main systems-change goals. We’ve been working towards that goal for a long time, advocating for college preparation, financial aid access and hands-on […]