California Connected by 25 Initiative
Stuart Foundation and Walter S. Johnson Foundation
The Challenge: Leveraging the Results of a Multi-Site Initiative to Influence Child Welfare Practice
Every year more than 4,000 young people age out of California’s foster care system and far too many exit without the safety net or life skills they need to succeed. To address the barriers that transitioning foster youth face, the Stuart Foundation and Walter S. Johnson Foundation created the California Connected by 25 Initiative (CC25I) to transform county child welfare practice and improve outcomes in key areas of the lives of foster youth ages 14 through 24. Grants were provided to child welfare departments in Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Orange, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Solano, and Stanislaus counties to develop community partnerships, engage and empower youth, and collect and evaluate data. Through the course of the initiative, the county sites were able to improve education, permanency, housing, and other critical outcomes for transition age foster youth, ultimately increasing their opportunities and ability to succeed in life.