Some foster youth experience negative outcomes after they leave foster care. They are more likely to:

• Be unemployed,
• Be underemployed,
• Be less educated,
• Experience poverty and low wages,
• Struggle with unplanned pregnancies and parenting children at very young ages, and
• Experience the adult criminal system.

In order to defy these poor outcomes, AB 12, the California Fostering Connections to Success Act, was signed into law on September 30, 2010. The legislation was sponsored by Speaker Karen Bass and Assembly Member Jim Beall and goes into effect on January 1, 2012.

The resources contained on this web page are provided to help professional staff provide relevant, tangible, and accessible resources to young adults who will eventually transition from the foster care system to responsible adulthood. Young adults will find information in the following areas, including but not limited to:

1. Completing high school or the high school equivalency test (GED)
2. College, community college, and vocational information (link to actual page, see below)
3. Vocational and employment resources (link to actual page, see below)
4. Information about special programs for children in foster care (link to actual page, see below)
5. Housing and placement information (link to actual page, see below)
6. Medical/health information (link to actual page, see below)
7. Legal Services (link to actual page, see below)
8. Food Services (link to actual page, see below)
9. A list of all the resources

Although not required, it is recommended that staff familiarize themselves with the information contained in the websites so they can direct young people to them, as necessary. Some of the websites contain information on subsequent pages, so it may be necessary to spend time navigating and researching them to obtain additional information.

These websites should be given to young people liberally along with a suggestion that they spend time going through them because the websites have information and resources about transitioning from foster care to adulthood. You may also want to set aside time to review some of the websites with teenagers or suggest they review them with a teacher, school counselor, friend, care provider, family member, or other supportive person.

The information contained in this resource guide can be used in the following ways:

1. Supervisors can use it as an instructional guide in a unit meeting.
2. Independent Living Skills Program staff can use it as a training guide.
3. Stakeholders can use it to train care providers and other service providers.
4. This 1-hour module can be inserted into another training on a similar topic.

Most of the links contained herein are public and therefore, not maintained through a central repository. Please note that because websites and links may be updated, changed or disabled by the originator, you should check periodically to make sure they are still active.

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