Transition Center Now!
Mon, 05/11/2009 - 20:08 — ywp
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From: Your Name <you@example.com>
To: vgray@dccouncil.us, dslonneger@dccouncil.us, twells@dccouncil.us, callen@dccouncil.us, jackevans@dccouncil.us, sgrant@dccouncil.us, dcatania@dccouncil.us, byoung@dccouncil.us, jshedlock@dccouncil.us, pmendelson@dccouncil.us, kbrown@dccouncil.us, iesparza@dccouncil.us, mbrown@dccouncil.us, lwhartonboyd@dccouncil.us, jgraham@dccouncil.us, tloza@dccouncil.us, mcheh@dccouncil.us, davidz@dccouncil.us, mbowser@dccouncil.us, Jholland@dccouncil.us, hthomas@dccouncil.us, yalexander@dccouncil.us, jrmeyers@dccouncil.us, mbarry@dccouncil.us
Subject: Transition Center Now!
Your Personal Statement
Dear Chairman Gray and City Council Members:
We need your help to make the DC Foster Youth Transition Center (YTC) a reality in 2010. Please restore full funding -- program and building -- for YTC in the FY2010 Human Services budget on June 2. Right now the Budget Mark-up includes funding for a Transition Center plan and program but no building money. The Committee reallocated the original $818,000 in YTC building funds to cover earmarks. Without a building, the Center will not happen and hundreds of our youth will not have the support they need to become independent adults.
Foster youth are facing many urgent issues. Each year, 150 DC foster youth turn 21 and age out of the system. Many do not have the knowledge, skills, and supports they need to be self-sufficient, successful adults. Compared to their nonfoster peers, foster youth are more likely to be pregnant (34%), incarcerated (27% male, 10% female), or unemployed (50%); homeless (20%), earn $10,000 or less a year; receive federal assistance (33%); suffer from mental illness or substance abuse (66%) and drop out of high school (33%).
Foster youth need a place of their own. Because many do not have families and friends to turn to, foster youth need a place to go to get support. A Transition Center would provide a nurturing environment, built on a foundation of youth development programming that would provide:
--Individualized support services for finishing high school and enrolling in college, connections to jobs and housing, financial management, and health care access.
--Group trainings that allow for peer-to-peer and interactive learning and build youth skills in self advocacy, leadership, health and wellness, and life skills.
--Youth-accessible hours as well as a hotline youth can call for quick help.
--Genuine commitment to youth by involving them on YTC staff and boards
We can't afford not to do it. The CFSA budget is $284 million. The Transition Center will use $2 million to address the training and support needs of 1000 older youth who make up half of the foster care population. By helping to prevent incarceration, homelessness, the need for public support--the Transition Center will save tax payers millions of dollars in the long run.
Listen to youth leaders. The youth leaders and members of the Foster Care Campaign have been working all year to make the Transition Center happen --testifying, organizing, researching, and planning. They represent the voices of hundreds of youth who have said very clearly: They want and need a Transition Center now. Youth in the foster care system need to see our leaders take action. Let them know you hear their voices and have their backs. Please restore full funding -- program and building -- for YTC in the FY2010 Human Services budget on June 2.
Thank you for your leadership and consideration. If you need more information, please contact the Foster Care Campaign at 202.332.3399 or go to youngwomensproject.org. We look forward to working with you to make the Transition Center a reality soon!
Your Name
123 Your St.
Yousville, YO 12345
Phone: (123)456-7890
To: vgray@dccouncil.us, dslonneger@dccouncil.us, twells@dccouncil.us, callen@dccouncil.us, jackevans@dccouncil.us, sgrant@dccouncil.us, dcatania@dccouncil.us, byoung@dccouncil.us, jshedlock@dccouncil.us, pmendelson@dccouncil.us, kbrown@dccouncil.us, iesparza@dccouncil.us, mbrown@dccouncil.us, lwhartonboyd@dccouncil.us, jgraham@dccouncil.us, tloza@dccouncil.us, mcheh@dccouncil.us, davidz@dccouncil.us, mbowser@dccouncil.us, Jholland@dccouncil.us, hthomas@dccouncil.us, yalexander@dccouncil.us, jrmeyers@dccouncil.us, mbarry@dccouncil.us
Subject: Transition Center Now!
Your Personal Statement
Dear Chairman Gray and City Council Members:
We need your help to make the DC Foster Youth Transition Center (YTC) a reality in 2010. Please restore full funding -- program and building -- for YTC in the FY2010 Human Services budget on June 2. Right now the Budget Mark-up includes funding for a Transition Center plan and program but no building money. The Committee reallocated the original $818,000 in YTC building funds to cover earmarks. Without a building, the Center will not happen and hundreds of our youth will not have the support they need to become independent adults.
Foster youth are facing many urgent issues. Each year, 150 DC foster youth turn 21 and age out of the system. Many do not have the knowledge, skills, and supports they need to be self-sufficient, successful adults. Compared to their nonfoster peers, foster youth are more likely to be pregnant (34%), incarcerated (27% male, 10% female), or unemployed (50%); homeless (20%), earn $10,000 or less a year; receive federal assistance (33%); suffer from mental illness or substance abuse (66%) and drop out of high school (33%).
Foster youth need a place of their own. Because many do not have families and friends to turn to, foster youth need a place to go to get support. A Transition Center would provide a nurturing environment, built on a foundation of youth development programming that would provide:
--Individualized support services for finishing high school and enrolling in college, connections to jobs and housing, financial management, and health care access.
--Group trainings that allow for peer-to-peer and interactive learning and build youth skills in self advocacy, leadership, health and wellness, and life skills.
--Youth-accessible hours as well as a hotline youth can call for quick help.
--Genuine commitment to youth by involving them on YTC staff and boards
We can't afford not to do it. The CFSA budget is $284 million. The Transition Center will use $2 million to address the training and support needs of 1000 older youth who make up half of the foster care population. By helping to prevent incarceration, homelessness, the need for public support--the Transition Center will save tax payers millions of dollars in the long run.
Listen to youth leaders. The youth leaders and members of the Foster Care Campaign have been working all year to make the Transition Center happen --testifying, organizing, researching, and planning. They represent the voices of hundreds of youth who have said very clearly: They want and need a Transition Center now. Youth in the foster care system need to see our leaders take action. Let them know you hear their voices and have their backs. Please restore full funding -- program and building -- for YTC in the FY2010 Human Services budget on June 2.
Thank you for your leadership and consideration. If you need more information, please contact the Foster Care Campaign at 202.332.3399 or go to youngwomensproject.org. We look forward to working with you to make the Transition Center a reality soon!
Your Name
123 Your St.
Yousville, YO 12345
Phone: (123)456-7890
