Casey Family Programs’ Bay Area field office in Oakland, California, has served youth and families in three counties and 20 different school districts for more than 30 years.

Helping grandmothers and budding adults
We have built long-term relationships with foster families and kinship caregivers, serving some of them for 14 years or more. Caregivers are typically relatives—particularly grandmothers. Most of the families we serve are African American.

When teens leave foster care, we help them make the move to independence while staying connected with their families or other significant adults. We assist whatever their path—whether it’s attending college, getting into medical school, or taking vocational training.

Weaving together a network of services
We collaborate with public and private agencies to better serve youth in foster care.

A few recent examples include:

• Liaison to schools. Encouraging the Oakland School District to create a foster care liaison who addresses specific needs of students, such as help transferring schools.
• Tutoring plus. Promoting strategic tutoring so students master study skills and use them to learn new material and do better academically.
• Persistence in tapping resources. Helping youth and family members develop skills to navigate the foster care system and get the assistance they qualify for.
• Youth in kinship care. Providing mentoring, educational advocacy, respite, and recreation programs for youth and families who are served by Alameda County Department of Children and Family Services.
• Collaboration with the juvenile justice system to ensure youth receive delinquency, prevention, and treatment services.