New Efforts to Provide Stable Foster Care System for California Youth

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Former foster youth, Kawanzza Byrd, is gaining culinary skills through a youth program called GROW Oakland. According to a national report , 1 in 5 foster care youth will become homeless after the age of 18, and 1 in 4 will be involved in the justice system within two years of aging out of the child welfare system. Photo by Ryder Diaz/KQED

By Adizah Eghan, KQED News Fix

There are more than 60,000 children in foster care in California. Serving their needs depends largely on finding foster parents who can provide them with stable housing and care.

In her teens, Jennifer Rodriguez bounced between group homes, youth shelters and juvenile hall. Growing up, she says, her mother was a paranoid schizophrenic and her father was incarcerated. As a foster youth, Rodriguez says she was often described as manipulative. She would frequently run away, get into fights and spend time in psychiatric hospitals. 

Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 

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