BLUEPRINT 2019
Helping foster youth graduate college ready to thrive in the 21st century workplace
Blueprint for Success Conference,
The 2019 Blueprint for Success Conference is a dynamic two-day event that includes a networking reception and workshops. The conference, sponsored by John Burton Advocates for Youth, combines meaningful engagement opportunities with in-depth workshops presented by professionals with a passion and aptitude for supporting foster youth to achieve their higher education goals.
Special Thanks to Our Funders
Stuart Foundation, Walter S. Johnson Foundation, Pritzker Foster Care Initiative, California Wellness Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Angell Foundation, Reissa Foundation, May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust
Our Agenda
Westin LAX
- 5400 West Century Blvd.
- Los Angeles, California 90045
Monday, October 28, 2019
- 9:00 AM | Conference Check In
- 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM | General Sessions & Workshops
- 4:30 – 6:30 PM | Networking Reception
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
- 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM | Breakfast
- 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM | General Sessions & Workshops
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
- 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM | Community College FYSI Convening (separate registration required)
Registration
For questions or more information about the 2019 Blueprint for Success Conference, please email
cathy@mwmanagementgroup.com
Registration closes on October 18, 2019. There will not be onsite registration.
Cancellation Policy
Registration fees will be refunded in full if cancellation is made before October 18, 2019. No refund will be available for cancellations made after October 18, 2019. Refunds will be made by check after the conference has concluded.
FYSI Convening
The California Community College Chancellor’s Office is hosting its biennial 2019 statewide Foster Youth Success Initiative (FSYI) convening on October 30, 2019 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport following the conference. California community colleges are encouraged to send their FYSI Liaison and/or foster youth liaison representative. Travel costs for the FYSI statewide convening will be reimbursed by the Chancellor’ Office. SEPARATE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. For more information and to register, please click here.
Workshop Details
Monday, October 28
- 3:30 – 4:45 PM – Workshop Session A
- 2:45 – 4:00 PM – Workshop Session B
Tuesday, October 29
- 3:30 – 4:45 PM – Workshop Session A
- 2:45 – 4:00 PM – Workshop Session B
A1 College Hunger: Sustainable and Innovative Solutions
Rachel Sumekh and Madeline Alpert, Swipe Out Hunger
With increased attention and resources going towards addressing college hunger, what are the best practices in the field today? How do you leverage basic needs funding your campus receives? How do you market basic needs services to your students? Join Swipe Out Hunger to learn about the most efficient and effective models to take back to your campus leadership. We will cover food pantry partnerships, meal voucher programs, increasing SNAP enrollment, hunger task forces, garnering support from campus leadership, impacting policy and more.
A2 Fostering Promise: Helping Young People Cultivate Resilience and Step into their Future
Shalita O’Neale and Kimberly Rhyan, Fostering Change Network Foundation
Please join foster youth alumni and advocates, Shalita O’Neale and Kimberly C. Rhyan for this workshop on supporting foster youth successes. We will share our personal stories and address the importance of self-advocacy as an empowerment process for foster youth/alumni. This session will equip you with strategies and resources to support foster youth in being PRODUCTIVE, REFLECTIVE, and ROOTED IN ACTION. We will identify practices to enhance strengths while addressing critical moments and triggers. You will walk away from this session with a plan for supporting foster youth and alumni to pursue educational, vocational and resilient pathways with hope and possibility.
A3 Strategies for Increasing Career Pathway Motivation in Foster Youth!
Larry Robbin, Robbin and Associates
When we talk with foster youth about career pathways, we are often having conversations that speak to the tip of the iceberg. The rest of the iceberg is the hidden barriers to pursuing careers that may be difficult for foster youth to discuss and overcome. This workshop is designed to help anyone that has career conversations with foster youth increase their understanding of the hidden roadblocks to pursuing careers and learn how to introduce those issues in ways that work for foster youth. If you want to eliminate career pathway roadblocks, come to this workshop!
A4 Creating a Foster Youth Ally Training
Valeri Garcia, UC Davis Guardian Scholars Program
Yajayra Tovar, CSUF Guardian Scholars Program
Juan Garcia, CSUF Guardian Scholars Program
Darcy Anderson, CSUF Fullerton Finish Program & Foster Friendly Ally
A Foster Youth Ally Training program on campuses and within organizations can reduce stereotypes and promote an inclusive and welcoming campus environment for students who have experienced foster care. Conducting a training can also give students a voice and help to develop a network of allies who pledge to support foster youth and serve as a resource. In this workshop, you will learn about two different models for ally trainings, hear directly from Guardian Scholars and allies about their experiences, and better understand how to avoid potential pitfalls when delivering this type of training.
A5 CalYOUTH Study: The Role That Extended Foster Care, Chafee ETVs, and Campus Support Programs Play in College Persistence
Nathanael Okpych, University of Connecticut
Laurie Kappe, i.e. Communications
Lilia Granillo, i.e. Communications
Come learn about our recent findings from the CalYOUTH Study, one of the largest ongoing studies of youth with foster care histories. We will focus on three critical supports: extended foster care, Chafee education and training vouchers, and campus-support programs. We will share findings on the role that each of these play in promoting college persistence for college students with foster care histories. You will have an opportunity to engage in a team-based interactive exercise and group discussion about the findings, hear from a panel of foster youth on their experiences with these three supports, and discuss strategies for improving these programs.
A6 Harnessing the Community Around Student-Centered Planning for High School Graduation Success
Angela Griffin, Lynda Hall & Roland Pablo, Treehouse
Treehouse invests in the individual potential of more than 7,000 Washington youth in foster care each year. Since launching Graduation Success six years ago, Treehouse has doubled the high school graduation rate of the foster youth in the program and implemented a process to scale the program across the state. In this workshop, we’ll highlight the innovation of the program – from a trauma-informed, emotionally intelligent culture with a racial equity lens, to diversified funding sources and key partnerships. Learn how we establish support connections for foster youth to secure a critical high school diploma and a plan for the future.
A7 Using Empathy for Healing: Lessons Learned from the UCLA GRIT Coaching Program
Nikita Gupta, UCLA
In this session, participants will explore the definition of empathy through a trauma-informed lens. Using lessons learned from the UCLA GRIT Coaching Program, which serves marginalized college student communities including foster youth, participants will learn specific concepts and skills by which to practice strategic empathy in interactions with foster youth, caregivers, and colleagues to promote healing and prevent burnout.
A8 Healing and Higher Education: Leveraging Resources to Expand Mental Health Services for Foster Youth in College
Jessica Petrass, John Burton Advocates for Youth
Keri Pesanti, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
Dawn Ledesma, Crittenton Services for Children and Families
Daniela Chavez, Rio Hondo College
Given the high rates of trauma that children in the foster care system face, mental health can be a significant barrier to college persistence and attainment. In this session, you will learn about the role of trauma in education and concrete ways to leverage services and establish partnerships with existing community-based mental health agencies. Learn about innovative new models being implemented under the leadership of the Los Angeles County of Department of Mental Health to expand capacity and address the mental health needs of current and former foster community college students.
A9 LGBTQI Foster Youth (WORKSHOP CANCELLED)
Prizila Vidal, LGBTQI Advocate
What is LGBTQI? How can you be LGBTQI-informed? In this workshop, you will learn the characteristics of LGBTQI youth and how you can be a Safe Zone for our Foster Youth! We will provide important information about LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and intersex) youth in the child welfare system, the unique risks they face, and the important role that YOU can play in reducing those risks. This will include information about how to create a welcoming space, how to promote a young person’s health and well-being in the community, the meaning of gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and effective practices for improving school climate for LGBTQI youth.
B1 All-Star Foster Youth Program: Preparing Our Students For Today And The Future
Jenna Mendez, Corona-Norco Unified School District
Foster youth are often an “invisible” underserved population. Come learn how to create a comprehensive academic and social/emotional program serving the needs of high-school aged foster youth while partnering with the local community college to achieve college and career readiness. Discussion will include academic supports, on-campus programs, mentoring, district and community outreach, resources, and the unique collaboration between the school district and local higher education institutions. Managing financial limitations and options for how to build a program over time will also be discussed.
B2 Self Determination Theory, Self-Leadership and Taking Control of Your Own Destiny
Maria Reyna and Jeff Stafford, PhD, Eastern Washington University
This highly interactive, hands on workshop will expose participants to concepts of self-leadership and sources of power that students in foster care can use to promote self-determination and to develop control of their own lives. What is self-leadership? What are my sources of power? How can I develop and enhance my personal power? What is my plan and first step? Student participants will walk away with lessons learned and an action plan for their own personal growth. Professionals will leave with strategies for helping their students and an action plan to put the concepts into play in their own organizations.
B3 Is Your Program Driven by the Voice of Foster Youth?
Larry Robbin, Robbin and Associates
Programs serving foster youth are typically designed by adults. The programs vary in how they engage the voice, values, creativity, and leadership of foster youth. There is often a gap between what adults think foster youth need and what foster youth really want from our programs. This workshop will show you how to make your program a partnership model that sees foster youth as equal partners. Foster youth that come to the workshop will teach us how to make our programs more inclusive. Come to this workshop and make your program a partnership model!
B4 Coaching to Bridge Experience Gaps: Applying the Fostering Success Coach Model
Jamie Bennett, Western Michigan University
Ronicka Hamilton, Western Michigan University
Sam Garman, Maricopa Community Colleges
Mars Bowman, Student
Antwinae Mcneil, Student
The Fostering Success Coach (FSC) Model, developed at Western Michigan University, is currently being used by hundreds of trained coaches working directly with students from foster care in the U.S. While developed in the context of a university setting, the model’s practices are also being implemented at community colleges and within community-based agencies serving students from foster care. This session will highlight the practices and benefits of using coaching with students from foster care, and a panel will provide examples of how the FSC Model has been implemented in various educational and community settings.
B5 K-12 to Postsecondary Transitions for Foster Youth: What Can We Learn from the Data?
Alan Chan, Educational Results Partnership
Elle Gemma Gruver, Educational Results Partnership
Beth Wilshire, Tulare County Office of Education
Jason Haley, Tulare County Office of Education
Foster youth data can sometimes feel like a confusing maze of information. Often, K-12 practitioners don’t know how their foster youth are transitioning into postsecondary education and community college staff need better information on the impact of their interventions. This presentation will share insights from the most recent California College Pathways and Educational Results Partnership report on foster youth transitions, as well as highlight the new and updated foster youth dashboards on the Cal-PASS Plus system. Learn how to use the dashboards, including uploading data and using the tools to compare cohorts of students and learn how practitioners are using this data to improve their foster youth student outcomes.
B6 Making Use of Legal Tools and Strategies to Thoughtfully Increase High School Graduation Rates
Alaina Moonves-Leb, Alliance for Children’s Rights
Under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), school districts must close the achievement gap in high school graduation rates, especially for the lowest achieving subgroup, foster youth. Yet, they must do so thoughtfully, without pushing out the most vulnerable youth before they are prepared to succeed in the next stage of their lives. Learn best practices for improving graduation rates for foster, probation, and homeless youth through the effective use policies that support school stability, award partial credits and utilize state minimum graduation options. The presentation will cover legal requirements, tools for implementation, and real-world examples. It will also discuss how to counsel youth about their options and help them and their education rights holders make the best choice based on their long-term goals.
B7 Empowering Foster Youth with Rights
Shekinah Peredo, Office of the Foster Care Ombudsperson
Join this action-packed workshop to learn about empowering youth with rights! Test your knowledge about foster youth rights with interactive activities. Get helpful resources and tips & tricks on how to effectively engage with youth about these rights. Learn how you can use the rights to support and empower youth. Attendees will receive written information about the Foster Youth Bill of Rights, mental health rights, sexual and reproductive health rights, and education rights to review and share with the youth you work with. We will also address effectively engaging with youth and best practices for communicating with youth. Students are also welcome to attend to learn how you can use your rights to effectively advocate for yourself in everyday life.
B8 Don’t Should on Yourself
Stephanie Olsen, Aja Houle, Kitara McCray, and Kelsey Bjugstad. VOICES (WORKSHOP CANCELLED)
Students are often bombarded with messages of what their education should look like rather than what it could look like based on their individual experience, needs, and goals. “Don’t Should On Yourself” is a workshop designed to teach case managers and youth how to advocate for an education plan that is personalized and geared towards success. Hear first-hand accounts from students, strategies to best navigate an education plan with a young person, and group discussion on vital and relevant topics.
B9 Beyond the Bias Lens: Intersections in Trauma, Race, and Privilege that Impact Student Success in Higher Education
Maddy Day, Case Commons
Lisa Feinics, Portland Community College
This interactive session will examine trauma, race, and privilege in higher education with a focus on student success. The workshop will cover the impacts of trauma on the brain and behavior, with a focus on how developmental trauma affects the emerging adult. You will learn how top-down processing leads to implicit bias and strategies we can use to avoid the pitfalls of automatic processing and reactions, as well as how to be aware of our own cognitive filters. Presenters will also focus on the intersection between history, race, and privilege in the classroom, and how those issues prevent, or support, student success.
B10 Supporting Career Exploration and Planning
Ena Volic and Joshua Garza, Alliance for Children’s Rights, Opportunity Youth Collaborative
Have you ever wondered how to motivate youth to start thinking about their future career goals? Are you looking to learn about resources available to help youth explore their options and interests when it comes to work? This workshop will offer practical tips, resources, and tools that will help you frame these important conversations with young adults.
C1 Reaching Up: New Research Supports Students Experiencing College Homelessness
Shahera Hyatt, California Homeless Youth Project
Foster youth experience homelessness at rates that are double those of other students. This informative workshop will present new research on college homelessness, highlight the latest legislation impacting this community, spotlight one university’s approach, and honor voices of students with current and lived experiences of homelessness. Pregnant and parenting students who are disproportionately impacted by college homelessness and other impacted populations will be thoughtfully discussed. Through a crowdsourced policymaking activity, you will have an opportunity to identify solutions to better support college students experiencing homelessness while navigating higher education.
C2 “So I got Into College. Now what?” Tips and Tricks to Manage Your Transition
Rosemarie Espinoza, Sarah Gentle and Elijah Valdeolivar, PIVOTAL Coaching Programs
Curious about how other youth figured things out in their first year in college? Wish someone would just tell you all the “secrets” to doing well? In this workshop, designed for future and current college students, youth who participate in PIVOTAL coaching programs will talk about their own transition to college, the hurdles they encountered and the things they learned along the way that helped them be successful. There will be lots of opportunities for discussion and you will leave with great information on how to make sure your college years are the best they can be!
C2 HANDOUT Success Skills Activity
C3 Increasing Access to Higher Education: California Community College Foster Youth Support Programs
Jessica Smith, Foundation for California Community Colleges
Colleen Ganley, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office
Holly Siino, Foundation for California Community College
Come learn about foster youth programs and initiatives that support foster youth students in California’s community colleges, including Foster Youth Success Initiative programs, NextUp/CAFYES, and Youth Empowerment Strategies for Success Independent Living Program (YESS ILP). You will learn about partnerships between direct services providers, community-based organizations, foster youth college students, and California’s community colleges. You will also learn about financial aid and the potential benefits available to foster youth students attending community college.
C4 Take and Make Your Shot: Coaching Youth to Transform from Surviving to Thriving
Kamela Stewart, Zimbabwe Davies and Shanina Shumante
Beyond Emancipation
Many youth who are impacted by the foster care system aren’t given opportunities to take their shot. Through our Creative, Connected, Resourceful and Whole (CCRW) model, providers will walk away with the strategies and tools needed to hold the youth’s agenda, allowing space for curiosity while supporting the process of their new discovery. We will provide a 6-step coaching framework that can guide providers on how to engage youth from surviving to thriving. Ultimately, you will learn skills that will help you empower youth to take their shot at success.
C5 Fostering Student Success by Promoting Sexual & Reproductive Health for Youth in Care: Actionable Strategies to Support Middle Schoolers, High Schoolers, and College Students
Lesli LeGras Morris, National Center for Youth Law
JeNeen Anderson, Power to Decide
Autumn Taylor, LA Reproductive Health Equity Project for Foster Youth
Recent research demonstrates harsh reproductive realities for youth in foster care, who face disproportionately high rates of unintended pregnancy, barriers to sexual health education and services, and too often, coercion regarding reproductive choices. By age 21, approximately one third of foster and former foster youth will be parents, often unintentionally, which impacts their opportunities and outcomes in multiple areas, including their ability to pursue their college and career goals. In this workshop, representatives (including youth) from the LA Reproductive Health Equity Project for Foster Youth and Power to Decide will provide actionable strategies to promote sexual health for students in foster care – from middle school to college – as a way to support their success in school.
C6 Healing Through Relationships: Practices to Guide Student Journeys From Middle School Through College
Michael Brooks, Norbert Negrea, and Francisco Zumidio
United Friends of the Children
Come learn how healing can take place in a student’s relationships with their family, education, the system, and within themselves through a series of evidence-based practices and interactions. Learn about United Friends of the Children’s Scholars Program that offers an 11-year education support continuum that follows LA County foster youth from the seventh grade through college completion. Together we’ll explore the benefits of developing grit and a growth mindset, cultivating mindfulness, and creating a clear career path over the course of their journey from middle school through college. You’ll leave with tools and resources you can use with students at any age.
C7 Flipping the Script: Celebrating the Paradigm Shift of Foster Youth in Higher Education
Alex Ojeda, Jessica Ruiz and Carissa Gonzalez
NextUp/Guardian Scholars, LA City College
Find out how LA Valley College is using meet-ups and celebrations, and emphasizing strength and resilience to support students through their academic journeys. We will explore the triumphs and struggles students experience as they are progressing through an academic semester and ultimately reach finals week. As the number of foster youth graduating from college increases, helping students to understand that they are shifting historical patterns for foster youth brings additional meaning to their achievements and propels students to not only continue their education, but to help guide the next generation of foster youth.
C8 The Power of Meaningful Relationships to Obtain Academic Achievement
Patricia King and Andrea Arroyo, Promises2Kids
Foster Youth TBD
With an over 85% graduation rate for foster youth pursuing higher education, Promises2Kids has found success in the mentoring and 1:1 individualized support that serve as the foundation for our program. This workshop will focus on approaches to helping foster youth create meaningful relationships in their life that propel them towards academic achievement and realizing their goals. We will discuss our recruitment, on-boarding, support services and retention strategies that support youth to find and maintain positive relationships and lead to academic success.
C9 Community-Based Organizations and College Partners: Working Together so Youth with Foster Care Experience Have Opportunities to Thrive
Sara Riffel and Crystal Aldmeyer, Nebraska Children and Families Foundation
Felipe Longoria, Central Plains Center for Services
Kenta Estrada-Darley, Coalition for Responsible Community Development
The Nebraska Children and Families Foundation and the Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) in Los Angeles are partners of the Annie E. Casey Foundation Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP) initiative to serve foster, justice-involved and homeless youth across a K-12 to post-secondary to career continuum. These programs utilize a holistic approach that encompasses best practices focused on collaboration, centralized navigation of support and services, strength-based wrap-around support and coaching, youth engagement and leadership, and financial capability strategies. We will share approaches for supporting your work through meaningful collaboration between community-based, public system, and postsecondary partners and practical strategies that you can replicate in your own community.
C10 Build Your Brand: LinkedIn for Students
Heather Matula, LinkedIn
As a college student, considering the transition to career can be daunting. Building a network and defining a professional brand are crucial components of advancing your career and social media can be a valuable tool. This presentation will explore the importance of branding and how you can use LinkedIn to begin building your brand and finding opportunities as a student.
D1 Foster Youth Serving Foster Youth
Michael Crane, Golden West College NextUp & Guardian Scholars
Sara Gamez, Cal Poly Pomona
Are you a current or former foster youth who currently works or hopes to work serving other foster youth? As foster care alumni, we bring a valuable perspective and sense of compassion to the field of higher education and working with current and former foster youth. One challenge we face, however, when identifying with our students and their many challenges, is high levels of compassion fatigue, burnout, and retraumatization. Come to this workshop and hear lessons learned and best practices to ensure that we can do this work effectively while maintaining our own mental wellness.
D2 Supporting College Students’ Basic Needs: Food and Housing Interventions
Jessica Smith, Foundation for California Community Colleges
Colleen Ganley, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office
Food and housing insecurity pose major barriers to foster youth success in college. In this workshop, we will outline how you can better support students from foster care who are experiencing food and housing insecurity to overcome these challenges. We will review a variety of interventions, including campus food pantries, Hunger Free campus initiatives, using program funds to address basic needs, CalFresh outreach strategies and housing strategies on campuses. You will learn about the latest research on CCC food and housing insecurity and leave with creative interventions to support students experiencing food and housing insecurity.
D3 SF State Guardian Scholars Program – Career Pathways Services
Xochitl Sanchez, Sonja Lenz-Rashid, Stephanie Porcell, and GSP Student
San Francisco State University Guardian Scholars Program
In 2011, the San Francisco State Guardian Scholars Program launched the Career Pathways Services program to help students prepare for post-graduation careers. SF State staff members will present these comprehensive, tangible and innovative services, including how we collaborate with our campus community, and organizations and corporations in the SF Bay Area community. You will receive materials you can use at your own college or university to develop and build career preparation services for foster youth on your campus. A SF State University GSP student/alum will also be on the panel to share how these services supported them as they transitioned to adulthood.
D4 Essentials of Youth Engagement for Student Success
Laura Foster, Bill Wilson Center
Why is it that struggling students often suffer in silence rather than accessing the broad range of support services available? Without successful outreach and youth engagement, many young people miss out on the essential services available to help them thrive. Drawing upon lessons learned from nearly a decade of working with former foster youth, presenters will review best practices for connecting with and engaging at-risk students. This workshop will include extensive discussion around how to effectively address barriers to engagement faced by service providers. You will come away with practical strategies you can begin to implement immediately in your own communities.
D5 Lessons Learned from 10 Years of Academic Coaching
Savonna Stender-Bondesson, Natalia Alcaraz-Lopez and Dazzy Maldonado, Pivotal
In this interactive workshop, you will learn about Pivotal’s experience supporting foster youth in pursuing their education goals through intensive academic coaching from high school through the completion of college. Speakers from different levels of the organization (administrative, direct practice, beneficiary) will provide a well-rounded view of the Pivotal difference. Best practices that have emerged and ways that you could replicate these in your programs will be discussed. Tools will be shared to support participants’ integration of elements of the work in your own contexts. Ample time will be provided for questions, practice and group discussion.
D6 First Year Experiences Contributing to Foster Youth Higher Education Attainment
Grace Johnson, EdD, Cal State University, San Bernardino
Sean Hogan, PhD, Cal State University, Fullerton
Maria Pineda, MSW/Former Foster Youth, Crittenton Services
Tamika Jones, Former Foster Youth, USC Graduate Student MSW
This workshop will provide students with tools for how to develop social relationships and create a network on campus. Research findings will be shared about the experiences of foster youth when they first arrive on a college campus and how they develop social relationships. In addition, two panel participants will discuss what this process was like for them. Finally, youth will receive tools that can be used to make the development of emotional connections a priority throughout their own educational journey.
D7 Multi-Agency Collaborative = Educational Success for Youth in Care
Marie Hughes, Family Care Network
Roxi Selck, County of San Luis Obispo Department of Social Services
Jessica Thomas, San Luis Obispo County Office of Education
Lisa Allardyce, Choice Educational Services
Julianne Jackson, Cuesta Community College
Collaboration that works! Come learn how San Luis Obispo County has created an educational support system for foster youth. We will share how we got started, funding strategies, lessons learned, and successes. You will hear about innovative collaborations, practical steps to implementation, how your county can replicate, and most importantly you will hear from a youth who has participated in the services presented and is well on their way to achieving their educational and career goals.
D8 ILP Plus – extending ILP to 26
Sandra Hamilton-Slane, Shasta College
Valerie Hartley, Shasta County ILP Programs
Bob DePaul, SCI*FI Counselor, Shasta College
Student Panel
What is ILP Plus? How can it benefit your students? Come learn how having extended ILP Services at your community college will benefit the youth when it comes to delivered services. Topics will include housing, obtaining important documents, and maintaining positive credit scores/checks. Hear from a youth panel how the services have benefited them.
D9 iFoster TAY AmeriCorps
Summer Rogers iFoster
TAY AmeriCorps Youth Member TBD
iFoster TAY AmeriCorps is a first of its kind program nationwide to train and deploy current foster youth to provide resource navigation to their peers. In 2019, these TAY AmeriCorps members will reach 50% of their peers in LA County and the Bay Area, connecting 35% of them to the resources they need to succeed. Come learn more about how this program works, lessons learned, and steps to join or replicate.
D10 Using Student Centered Engagement, Teaming and Education Champions to Help Systems Involved Youth Access Their Post-Secondary Goals
Kawena Cole, Camille Bailey, Kristen Gast, and Joy Hernandez, National Center for Youth Law
This workshop will describe the partnerships between K-12 school districts and FosterEd California at four demonstration sites that serve students in foster care, experiencing homelessness, and on probation. You will learn how to use student centered engagement, goal setting, identification of education champions and teaming with systems partners to eliminate barriers to graduation and accomplish post-secondary goals. Participants will also hear about our lessons learned, including the importance of training school staff on system-involved youth rights/procedures and trauma informed practices. You will walk away with actionable strategies that you can implement in your region.
Agenda
Sunday, October 27 – Youth Leadership Training
Separate Registration is Required
Monday, October 28 – Blueprint Conference
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9:00 – 10:00 AM Conference Check-in and Networking
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10:00 – 10:30 AM Opening Program
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10:30 – 10:45 AM Break
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10:45 AM – 12:00 PM Session “A” Workshops
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12:00 – 1:15 PM Networking Lunch
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1:15 – 2:30 PM General Session featuring Keynote Speaker – Regina Louise
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2:30 – 2:45 PM Break
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2:45 – 4:00PM Session “B” Workshops
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4:30 pm – 6:30 PM Welcome Networking Reception
Tuesday, October 29 – Blueprint Conference
Wednesday, October 30 – FYSI Convening
This event is for Foster Youth Success Initiative (FYSI) Liaisons and/or foster youth liaison representatives from California community colleges. Separate Registration is Required. For more information and to register, please click here.
Hotel Information
The conference is being held at the Westin LAX.
Sleeping Rooms are $149 per night. Deadline to make room reservations at this rate is October 10, 2019.
Student Scholarships
The most important voices in the conversation about foster youth educational success are the voices of foster youth themselves. California College Pathways will be offering scholarships to 80 current and former foster youth to attend this year’s event to inform and lead the effort to create more college and career pathways for foster youth.
Scholarship slots will be provided directly to campus-based support programs for foster youth throughout California. Each campus that opts to participate will identify students to attend. Selected students will be provided with a full scholarship that pays for conference registration fees, travel and meals.
Scholars selected to attend will participate in a special leaders’ training the day prior to the conference. Scholars will receive training on strategic sharing, networking skills, background information on foster care policy issues and education opportunities, and an epic opportunity to mix it up with new friends!
On the day of the conference, Scholars will participate in professional workshops focused on the college and career success of foster youth. Each workshop will provide useful information that may assist students with their college and career goals, as well as provide an opportunity for them to share their insight and expertise.
To be eligible students must:
- Have had experience in the foster care system
- Be current college students
- Be currently living in California
- Be at least 18 years old as of the date of the event
- Be available and willing to attend both the pre-conference leadership training and the full conference from noon on October 27 through Tuesday, October 29 at 3:30
- Be nominated by their campus-based support program.
For questions, please contact Christine Perry at chris@mwmanagementgroup.com.
Hotel Information
No. There is only one flat free for registration whether you attend one day or both.
If you want to use a purchase order, please choose pay by check when you register. Email Cathy Murnighan (cathy@mwmanagementgroup.com) the information about the purchase order and we can produce an invoice if needed. Click here for JBAY W9 form.
Yes, make check payable to:
John Burton Advocates for Youth
235 Montgomery St. Ste. 1142
San Francisco, CA 94104
No, but they can apply for a scholarship through their campus-based foster youth support program.
Click here for information about how to apply.
Self Parking is $35 per day
Valet Parking is $40 per day
Rates are the same for day use or overnight guests.
Registration fees are $310 per person.
Register Early! If you register by September 15, 2019 the fee is $250 per person.
When you go to the registration link you can choose to pay by credit card or check. If you want to use a purchase order, please choose pay by check. Email Cathy Murnighan (cathy@mwmanagementgroup.com) the information about the purchase order and we can produce an invoice if needed.
If you cancel your registration before October 18, 2019 we will refund your registration fees. If you cancel after that date – we will not be able to refund any of your registration fees.
These meals are included with your registration fee:
Monday Lunch
Monday Night Reception
Tuesday Breakfast
Tuesday Lunch
Students are more than welcome to attend the event. There are a limited number of scholarships available for students. Additional information can be found on our Student Scholarships tab. Students may also attend by paying the general registration fee.
There is a Student Only portion of the event on Sunday, October 27 for scholarship recipients. Students attending who are paying the full registration fee may be able to attend this pre-conference session, depending on space availability. Please make sure to identify yourself as a student when you register so that we can send you additional details.
Registration closes on October 18, 2019 There will not be onsite registration. Early bird registration deadline is September 15, 2019. Fees go up after that date.