Outreach workers, Tulare County Sheriff's Department officials observe St. Johns River homeless camp

From the Visalia Times-Delta

Angela Leathers with Aspiranet, left, talks with Ashley Hewes and her puppy, Boots, during a visit Thursday by volunteer social workers, housing coordinators and government officials intended to help match homeless residents with shelter and health and employment services. (Steve R. Fujimoto)

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The California Report Looks at Foster Care

Listen to The California Report’s first in a series of reports on the state of foster care in California.

Click here:
http://blogs.kqed.org/inotherwords/2009/10/26/the-california-report-looks-at-foster-care

Get Your Tickets to the Black Vest Affair Motorcycle Run to Support Foster Children

Sunday, November 8, 2009
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Robert Hall Winery, Paso Robles
$40 ride, lunch, shirt, and raffle ticket
$30 passenger ride and lunch

Registration - 1800 Grand Avenue, Grover Beach, CA
or Robert Hall Winery, 3443 MIll Road, Paso Robles, CA

All proceeds from this event will directly benefit the Central Coast Chapter of Aspiranet and help support foster children.

The charity ride starts up at 1800 Grand Avenue in Grover Beach, ending at Robert Hall Winery in Paso Robles, just in time to feast on a lunch prepared by Catering by Chef Charlie with live music.

Ticket holders will have an opportunity to enter drawings to win a trip for two to Las Vegas, cooking classes from Catering by Chef Charlie, and other donated raffle prizes.



For more information, please call 805.473.8760.


Sponsors include Robert Hall Winery, Catering by Chef Charlie, Rontal, Doughboys Pizza, It’s Your Party, and Toby Bellocchi of Tobyco Builders.

$80 Million in CWS Cuts Detailed

Kinship Support Services Programs (KSSP) will receive a 12% cut in funding, the THP-Plus program will be cut by an additional 0.47%, and county Child Welfare Services allocations will be reduced by 9% according to FY 2009-2010 state budget details released today the California Department of Social Services (CDSS).

Two and a half months after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unexpectedly used his veto authority to cut $80 million from the Child Welfare Services (CWS) line item, CDSS announced the final determination of how those cuts will be apportioned.

At high risk for significant cuts, if not outright elimination, were programs funded by the state that include little or no county or federal matching funds, services such as KSSP and THP-Plus. The California Alliance of Child and Family Services

Nuestros Niños se Preparan para la Temporada del Frío y el Flu

Los días calurosos terminan, y con los días fríos empieza la temporada de resfriados y gripes. ¿De qué maneras mantener sanos a nuestros niños y familias? ¿Cómo prevenir y remediar los molestosos y peligrosos síntomas de los catarros y de las influenzas? ¿Tiene preguntas sobre las vacunas para la gripe de temporada y para la gripe H1N1? Traiga sus comentarios, consejos y consultas a la Dra. Marisol y sus invitados expertos.

Sunday, Oct. 25, 8:00 a.m.

http://bit.ly/1WTL6Q

Governor Signs Passel of Foster Care Related Bills

Among the legislation signed by Governor Schwarzenegger over the past week were a host of foster care related bills, including AB 665 (Torrico), the Alliance sponsored bill that permits federal adoption incentive funds to be used to support all types of permanence for older foster youth.

Governor Schwarzenegger released a statement saying he “signed a package of legislation focused on expanding and promoting adoption opportunities and increasing services for children in California’s foster care system.”
According to his press release, the governor stated, “Every child deserves to grow up in a safe, nurturing environment and this legislation will expand adoption programs and services to ensure that opportunity for California’s foster children. It is also important to provide youth with the right tools when they transition out of foster care and these bills help make that possible by improving their access to quality education and providing them with resources to be successful as independent adults.” CA Alliance E-news, 10/19/09

Governor Signs California Youth Connection (CYC) sponsored bill AB 1393

Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 1393 late Sunday, a bill that will assist transitioning foster youth with housing as they work toward a higher education degree.

Specifically AB 1393 requests that the California Community Colleges, the University of California (UC), and requires the California State University (CSU) give priority to current and former foster youth for on-campus housing as well as priority for housing that is open the most days in a calendar year to ensure stable housing for foster youth throughout their college education.

Read more: http://bit.ly/QcDis

A Word From...

Jan Half, Executive Director, MOUSE Squad of California (MSCA)

"MOUSE Squad students learn many skills frequently cited by employers as keys to success in the workplace, including leadership, communication, teamwork problem solving and time management."

Learn more about MSCA: http://bit.ly/4bquV3

Retirees can use career skills to volunteer

Steve Mercer spent 35 years with General Electric and Boeing, mostly developing executive talent jobs. Now, he's developing the math skills of a fifth-grader.

After developing executive talent, Mercer retired in 2004 and moved with his wife, Ning, to northern California from St. Louis. Troubled by reports that non-English-speaking kids were falling behind in school, he considered teaching English as a second language.

Then he noticed an article about Experience Corps (www.experiencecorps.org) looking for volunteers to teach reading and math. He called them, and with his engineering background, Mercer was put to work tutoring kids in math.

Now, twice a week, Mercer works with a fifth-grader.

"The hardest thing is getting kids motivated," he said, which is where his executive talent training comes into play. For his student, who loves football, he invented a game where the student can move the ball (a coin) down a hand-drawn field as he solves math problems correctly.

"You know you helped somebody take a step forward," Mercer said.

Read the full article: http://bit.ly/EaUBJ

Asperger's: My life perspective from a person, not a textbook

Robyn Steward is a young British woman with Asperger's who offers unique insight into this complex condition and relates her personal experiences to educate the community at large. She regularly trains professionals and mentors people with ASD. Robyn has lectured internationally, has presented at the House of Commons and has appeared on Channel 4 and the BBC.

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
San Jose, Santa Clara County
Sponsored by Parents Helping Parents

For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/ktUac.

GENTLEMEN! START YOUR ENGINES!

Rev it up for foster families and children
Saturday, October 17

Gates open at 3:00 p.m., green flag drops at 5:30 p.m.
Ventura Raceway @ Seaside Park
10 West Harbor Boulevard, Ventura

General admission cost $14
Groups of 50 or more can purchase tickets at $10 each.
All children 12 yrs. and under are admitted free with an adult paid admission.

Start your engines as Ventura Raceway drives hard to the chase to benefit foster children, siblings, and families through Aspiranet.

Who will take the checkered flag?

Participants in the Go-Kart Community Challenge include:
Sam Hishmeh, franchise owner of 17 Domino's Pizza stores
Dan Burrell, franchise owner of 8 Jersey Mikes Subs stores
Bryan Easterly of County Commerce Bank
Edward Baeza of United Rentals
Craig Goettsche Owner Operator Chik-Fil-A at Oxnard
Chris Raschke, ARP – Automotive Racing Parts

$2 from every admission will benefit Aspiranet.

For more information, visit: http://bit.ly/E5t4A

Community March: Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Join the San Mateo County Domestic Violence Council for a community march, followed by a resource fair. Domestic Violence affects not only the women, men, and children who are being abused, but the entire community. Unite together on October 23 in a march again domestic violence, raise awareness in our country, and learn about local agency resources. Learn more: http://bit.ly/197P5F

Kidsdata.org Fact:

In 2007, 5.7% of California children had no health insurance, down from 9.4% in 2001. Learn more: http://bit.ly/QczY9

MOUSE Squad of California Expansion Creates Need for Northern and Southern CA Trainings

MOUSE Squad of California (MSCA), now in 70 sites, held three trainings in August and September, two in San Francisco/Silicon Valley and one in southern CA. Seventy-five MOUSE Squad instructor/faculty advisors, administrators, and technology industry volunteers learned MOUSE Squad implementation strategies and participated in teams to create engaging MOUSE Squad Module presentations. Each school received a “Computer In A Box” – a kit of internal components with supplemental Module 8 hands-on activities lesson plans, as well as the MOUSE Squad kit and materials.

After attending the training, an instructor/faculty advisor commented, “I attended the awesome training and am so impressed with the professionalism and efficiency of how it is run. The teachers and principals from schools that are already participating have very positive things to say about the success of this program in each of their schools. The MOUSE Squad program is the door that leads to having Technology be an important part of both teaching and learning in our schools.”

SNBC Participates in the Sunset Community Festival

For another year, the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center helped put together and participated in the Sunset Community Festival in San Francisco. Now in its 15th year, the Festival was held at the Sunset Rec Center on Saturday, September 26.

The sun shone as hundreds of Sunset residents came out to enjoy a diverse array of performances, work on art projects, and learn more about Sunset resources. In honor of this year's theme, Celebrating Sunset Children and Youth, SNBC had a photo booth where children and adults could share what “I want to be when I grow up” and visually become a part of SNBC's logo. View photos from the event.