Accomplishments

Advisory Board of Directors

Senator John Burton (Ret.), Chair

Julie Brandt

Kimiko Burton

Miles Cooley

John Garcia

Rick Mariano

Christine Minnehan

Nathan Nayman

Frank Quattrone

Nina Salarno Ashford

Sami Tahbazof

Tina Thomas

Honorary Board of Directors

Paul Thomas Anderson

Tom Arnold

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca

Warren Beatty

Annette Bening

Clint Eastwood

William Friedkin

Sherry Lansing

Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle

Accomplishments

Since the John Burton Foundation was founded in 2005, we have…

Improved the quality of life for children and youth without homesby providing over $3.5 million in grants to more than 200 of California’s most effective community-based organizations.
Offered former foster youth a leg-up in collegethrough our Annual Laptop Challenge, which has provided 105 former foster youth in college throughout California with laptop computers.
Increased access to higher education by providing over 2,000 former foster youth in college with over $250,000 in direct financial support to through our Backpack to Success program.

Additionally, each year we have fought for changes in local, state and federal policy that have directly assisted the over 75,000 abused and neglected children in California’s foster care system.

2010

We were the lead advocates for the passage of landmark foster care legislation, which will reduce incarceration among youth who “age out” of foster care and increase their odds of completing college by 200% by increasing the upper age that they may receive assistance from 18 to 21.
Improved support for relatives who take custody of a child from foster care by co-sponsoring Assembly Bill 12, which increases the funding they receive and makes benefits available for youth who move out of state.
Organized 124 youth-serving community-based organizations into a state-wide coalition that is advocating for policy changes on the local, state and federal level to end youth homelessness in California.
Ensured that 145 safety-net providers made it through the recession by providing over 1,200 hours of high-quality, no-cost consultation.

2009

Saved California foster care system $60 million annually by convincing federal officials to change a policy that prevented California from benefiting from newly available funds for relative caregivers.
Reduced homelessness in California by successfully advocating for an eight-fold increase in the number of youth participating in the State of California’s only housing program for former foster youth, from 165 to 2,400 youth statewide.
Expanded implementation of the State of California’s only housing program for former foster youth by advocating for the removal of a 60% county share of cost and for a seven-fold increase in the budget, from $4.8 million to $35.8 million.
Promoted high quality housing for homeless former foster youth by implementing a statewide participant tracking system to evaluate the performance of community-based housing providers.

2008

We were the lead advocates for passage of historic federal legislation that created a state-option for youth in foster care to receive assistance until age 21, preventing homelessness among hundreds of thousands of youth.
Defended the rights of grandparents by successfully advocating for federal policy changes that prevent the US Department of Housing and Urban Development from counting payments for subsidized guardianship as income for the purposes of federally subsidized housing.
Restored foster children to the 2010 federal census, after the Census Bureau had removed them to shorten the length of the form. With this information intact, children in foster care will count—and be counted.

2007

Protected seriously disabled youth in the foster care system by sponsoring state legislation that requires all youth to be screened for a disability at age 16 and if likely eligible, apply for federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) prior to their exit from foster care at age 18.
Bridged the gap between foster care policy and practice by providing over 800 hours of training, developing nine educational publications, distributing four newsletters and circulating electronic policy updates to 50 counties and 67 community-based organizations serving homeless former foster youth

2006

Increased access to permanent, affordable housing by successfully advocating for the inclusion of $50 million for homeless former foster youth in the November 2006 Proposition 1C state infrastructure bond.
Sponsored legislation that removed a major financial barrier for California counties to address homelessness among former foster youth.
Increased public support for foster care in California through a five-part policy briefing series featuring national foster care experts.