Take Action Today: Call Senator Nancy Skinner, Chair of the Public Safety Committee at (916) 651-4009 and ask her to vote YES on SB 54 (de León). The bill will be heard in both the judiciary and public safety committees on Tuesday.

Also known as the California Values Act, SB 54 (de León) prohibits using state and local public resources to aid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in deportation actions. Click the link to read Senator de León’s press release about the bill. http://sd24.senate.ca.gov/news/2016-12-07-senate-leader-de-león-introduces-bill-“freeze-out-ice”

Will you join us in our commitment to children and families? Click here to support WestCoast today. https://www.westcoastcc.org/give/

“Other counties are following suit. It’s a message and practice that all California jurisdictions should be working toward implementing…”, Frank Mecca article on why Governor Brown should sign SB1322.

San Diego Tribune supports Senator Mitchell’s bill SB 1322 which would stop authorities from treating victims of child sex trafficking like criminals. Check out the full article on their website by clicking here.

Leilani Diaz, Youth Advocate Fellow at WestCoast Children’s Clinic, has published a piece of creative non-fiction in the Chronicle for Social Change. Read her article here.

Our partners in Yolo County are using WestCoast’s Commercial Sexual Exploitation Identification Tool as part of county-wide efforts to identify and help exploited children. Learn more about these efforts by clicking here.

“Foster youth…who remain in care as young adults, tend to enroll in school, avoid homelessness and have more positive life outcomes generally than youth who age out at 18, according to the most comprehensive study of transition age foster youth to date…” continue reading The Chronicle of Social Change research news here.

“We’re looking at this as a huge opportunity in terms of helping to ensure that the children who are in the state of California have access to comprehensive health care services…”, the SF Gate reports.

A powerful article by a former Alameda County Youth Advocate.

“My induction into YAP became the pivotal moment that catapulted my ability to advocate for my own needs and it allowed me to see myself as a social change agent for current foster youth in my community who were struggling with similar issues. The YAP experience inspired me to want more access to macro-level change and micro-level interventions for children and families impacted by the system…”

After Spending the Most Precious Years of My Life as a Foster Child, I Am Now Changing the System; By Joymara Coleman