San Francisco Youth Commission
In 2006, the San Francisco Youth Commission, a diverse group of San Francisco youth appointed by the Board of Supervisors and Mayor, asked Mayor Gavin Newsom to address the needs of transition aged youth in San Francisco.
San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom
Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom shares his rationale for launching the Transitional Youth Task Force emphasizing the efforts of the San Francisco Youth Commission as well as a growing awareness among service providers that transitional youth were being underserved.
Provided by Marlo Simmons
Marlo Simmons from the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families provides a brief summary of the goals and responsibilities of the Task Force.
Dina Wilderson, JoAnn Lee, Eliza Gibson
Dina Wilderson, JoAnn Lee, and Eliza Gibson explore the many challenges that homeless youth face that may hinder their successful transition into adulthood. They then analyze a housing based service model, Larkin Street Youth Services, to address the needs of this group. The model provides a range of housing options and support services including education, employment services, life skills training, behavioral health services, and medical care.
Marisa Policastro
Marisa Policastro discusses the inadequacies of federal legislation to address the needs of teens aging out of the foster care system. She then describes the evolution of an innovative, comprehensive education program focused on addressing these inadequacies by teaching foster teens self-advocacy skills that are critical to facing the challenges of being an independent adult. This nationally recognized program, Getting Beyond the System® Self Advocacy Seminar, was developed by the Youth Advocacy Center in New York, which has recently begun to establish replication sites across the United States.
Mitch Findley and Joleen Rodgers
At IMPACT, we believe that understanding the viewpoint of the youth we hope to help is critical to informing policies and service provision directed toward improving the lives of urban youth. Therefore, each issue includes their views on the topic focus.
Youths, Mitch Findley and Joleen Rodgers, discuss their experiences, hardships, and personal triumphs as foster care youth in California, as well as their opinions of the current support programs in place for youth transitioning out of the system.
Shira Andron
Shira Andron, an Emancipation Specialist Program Manager at First Place for Youth, responds to some of the challenges that Joleen and Mitch faced and how First Place can ease that transition for youth in the Bay Area.
