From the Chronicle of Social Change–A $30 million initiative to help thousands of transition-aged foster youth secure stable housing, pursue higher education and receive better services in the Bay Area is being launched by a San Francisco-based anti-poverty organization.
The nonprofit Tipping Point Community announced the “Better Futures for Foster Youth” initiative earlier this month. The goal is to reach about 4,000 young adults ages 14 to 24 in the Bay Area by working to change policy and improve systems to help youth find housing and better services, according to the organization.
“We are cutting right to the heart of the structural issues that make the system stacked against foster youth,” said Sam Cobbs, president of Tipping Point. “We want these youth to have the same support, care and opportunities we’d want for any of our own children. We have to improve the systems that will better serve their needs and make it possible for them to succeed.”
In addition, a first-ever statewide data platform to identify services and interactions with youth will be funded through the initiative, according to Tipping Point.
“Once developed, this data platform will stand out because at this point in time, data isn’t coordinated across counties, or sometimes not even coordinated within the same county,” said Alex Chan, director of strategic initiatives at Tipping Point Community. “For example, today, various agencies and service providers don’t share data with each other so therefore they can’t see a holistic picture of a young person multiple agencies may be serving.”