As a child growing up in foster care, says Monique Randolth, “I always felt like I was different and that not a lot of people had my situation.” Then, at age 13, she joined California Youth Connection.

“In CYC,” says Randolth, “I found a lot people in my situation who had a lot in common with me.”

That peer support is an important part of California Youth Connection, an organization of, by, and for youth who are or recently were in foster care. But CYC members also use their first-hand knowledge to improve foster care, by lobbying for legislation and by educating judges, social workers, educators, and other key players.

CYC was started in 1989 by foster youth “who were upset and wanted to change the system,” with the help of the foster care Independent Living Program, says Communications Director Tiffany Johnson. Now 24 county CYC chapters work on local issues and come together for statewide campaigns.

“The youth perspective and experience need to be considered, particularly (in) youth-focused issues” like foster care, says Haydee Cuza, who helped start CYC’s Los Angeles chapter and is now southern region policy coordinator.

“They know the system better—better than educators, policy makers, or social service workers,” says Tim Evans, who worked with CYC members in Alameda County on a project to improve group foster homes.

Taking charge

Randolth says she used to try to hide the fact that she was in foster care. Through CYC, she says, “I went from hiding it to embracing it and becoming an advocate.”

“All their lives,” adds CYC member Brandy Hudson, foster youth “have had no say.” But CYC “lets you know that you are in charge of your own life.”

CYC helps by providing information and encouragement for members to succeed in school and go to college—not easy for foster youth, who may move from placement to placement and often have no one helping them plan their education. And CYC is an education in itself, with annual leadership training and policy conferences plus a day when CYC members meet with legislators at the Capitol.

Pushing for legislation

“The best part,” says Randolth, “is making a change. We actually see the bills get passed.”

Former foster youth Jennifer Rodriguez, who heads up CYC’s legislative efforts, says members decide on legislative priorities at an annual legislative conference, but issues center on a few main themes:

• Education: “When you’re in foster care, moving from placement to placement, it’s a constant crisis,” says Rodriguez. Three years ago CYC successfully championed a bill to create more “school stability,” allowing foster youth to enroll in a new school without waiting for required documents and allowing kids who move to finish the year in their old school. Last year CYC helped pass a bill setting educational standards for group home schools and other nonpublic schools.

• Family: Family ties are especially important to foster youth; recently passed bills require foster care systems to put more of a priority on keeping siblings connected and on “permanency”—making sure that a youth has a strong tie to at least one adult when he or she leaves foster care.

• Emancipation: “We’ve been successful,” says Rodriguez, “in that the average legislature now gets it, that 18 is too young to be pushed out of foster care with no services.” Laws supported by CYC have extended some services for former foster youth to age 21, and Rodriguez is looking ahead to extending them more, to age 24 or 25.

Educating their elders

But new laws don’t benefit foster youth unless judges, lawyers, social workers, and educators know about them. A 1996 law, for example, says state universities and community colleges have to provide support to foster youth, “but no one knew the law existed,” says Rodriguez. So CYC has been educating college staff. The Orange County CYC chapter, for example, holds forums for college administrators on how to support foster youth.

In Butte County, CYC members hold training sessions for social workers, and the Fresno chapter is training foster parents—all about how the system looks from the youth’s point of view.

Communicating with youth

Other CYC projects work with youth. The Alameda chapter partnered with other organizations in a survey of youth in group homes about the services they are receiving. The Tehama chapter is creating orientation packets to educate youth new to the system about resources and rights.

“Members are changed on a day-to-day basis,” says Hudson. “I think it [CYC membership] gives youth a sense of identity. It’s great because you’re helping youth to come—not just for you, but for your siblings and future generations. You are changing it (the system) forever.”

What you can do?

• Learn more about CYC by calling 800-397-8236 or visiting www.calyouthconn.org

• Contact CYC to find about events in your area or to organize one for your organization

• Let your legislator know your views on foster care legislation

• Support CYC and other youth advocates by participating in your county’s decision-making process on spending new mental health funds created by last fall’s Proposition 63—and advocating for children and youth services.

Legislative targets

This year CYC is working on:

• AB 1412 (Leno), which would strengthen the requirement that foster care systems develop and support permanent relationships between a foster youth and at least one adult

• AB 1633 (Evans), which would require foster care programs to apply for Social Security for all eligible children and use some of the funds to help youth transition out of foster care when they are 18.

Brandy Hudson

“My participation in CYC changed my life dramatically,” says CYC’s Southern Region Outreach Coordinator Brandy Hudson. “I was 14 when I joined, and headed down not a good path,” she recalls. “I was in a group home and running away, experimenting with drugs, promiscuous. I didn’t even try because I thought ‘oh I don’t have a family, I’m poor.’ But they (CYC foster youth) were doing something positive. I became the person I am today because of CYC, obtaining an education and employment. I could travel, flying for the first time, first hotel, first time I ever gave a public address, first job. It can be a life-changing experience to be involved with this organization.”

Monique Randolth

CYC, says member Monique Randolth, “opened my eyes up to bigger and better things.” Now, at age 19, Randolth is on the CYC Advisory Board Committee for the Los Angeles chapter and attends University of California, Los Angeles.

Delton Jackson

“In the future, I hope to be a cop or a teacher—a positive role model,” says Delton Jackson, now 19. In foster care, Jackson says, “A lot of kids have personal problems. Foster kids want to be accepted because they don’t have anyone. They don’t have brothers or sisters, and they want to join a gang to have that, to be part of a family.” Luckily, Jackson found an outlet in music and is currently recording a second album.