2021 marks a decade since the extension of foster care to age 21 in California. The recently signed state budget for 2021-2022 also commits critical new funds to this population across housing, education and other service supports. In addition, Chapin Hall has just released a new CalYOUTH report on the effect of extended foster care two years after youth exit extended care, at age 23. And while research demonstrates positive outcomes for youth well-being through extended foster care measures, the data also reveal that there is much further to go in realizing the ultimate vision of extended care: to prepare transition age foster youth for life-long self-sufficiency and independence.

Over those ten years, First Place for Youth has become one of the largest providers of transitional housing and extended foster care services for foster youth in the state. And as an organization dedicated to data-informed service delivery and policy advocacy, First Place for Youth marked the 10-year anniversary by cultivating evidence-building partnerships to better understand “what really works” and releasing a research brief about the findings entitled Raising the Bar: Building system- and provider-level evidence to drive equitable education and employment outcomes for youth in extended foster care.

This Webinar will discuss key findings of that brief with implications for practice and policy reform. Jane Schroeder, Chief Policy Officer for First Place for Youth, will join an esteemed panel of experts to discuss how foster care organizations can leverage data and evidence to help inform policy recommendations and service interventions to better serve foster youth when they turn 18

Webinar will feature:
Mark Courtney, Samuel Deutsch Professor, University of Chicago
Amy Lemley, Executive Director, JBAY
Erika Van Buren, Chief Innovation Officer, FPFY
Jane Schroeder, Chief Policy Officer, FPFY