HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-099 CC Resolution
RESOLUTION NO. 08-99
' A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF TEMECULA TO SUPPORT EMANCIPATING FOSTER
YOUTH THROUGH THE TEMECULA VALLEY CITY
COUNTY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP
WHEREAS, the Cities Counties and Schools Partnership 2007 Conditions of
Children Task Force has called all California City Councils, County Board of
Supervisors and School Boards to explore their role in addressing the needs of
emancipating foster youth; and
WHEREAS, California has the largest number of children and youth in foster
care of any state in the nation with approximately 80,000 children in care; and
WHEREAS, each year over 4,000 of those youth emancipate from the system as
they turn 18 years old, an increase of 38% since 1998; and
WHEREAS, foster youth enter the child welfare system through no fault of their
own and become wards of the state; and
WHEREAS, we hold a shared responsibility to support safe passage of these
youth into adulthood; and
WHEREAS, the task force found unacceptable outcomes for emancipating youth
in the areas of education, housing, employment, mental and physical health, and within
the criminal justice system; and
WHEREAS, only 40% of foster youth in California complete high school; and
WHEREAS, 70% of youth who emancipate from foster care report wanting to go
to college, while only 10% attend and less than 1 % graduate from college; and
WHEREAS, 65% of emancipating foster youth need immediate housing when
they exit the system; and
WHEREAS, within 18 months of emancipation 40-50% of former foster youth
become homeless; and
WHEREAS, 60% of former foster youth emancipate into destitution, earning
incomes at or below $6,000 per year; and
WHEREAS, 33% of all foster care alumni have no form of health insurance; and
' WHEREAS, nearly 50% of foster children suffer from chronic health conditions
such as asthma, visual and auditory problems, dental decay and malnutrition; and
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WHEREAS, former foster youth experience Post Traumatic Stress disorder at a
rate two times the level of US war veterans; and
WHEREAS, currently 25% of foster youth will be in prison within two years of
emancipation; and
WHEREAS, these unacceptable and costly outcomes must be averted; and
WHEREAS, the City of Temecula, the County of Riverside, and the Temecula
Valley Unified School District has established the Temecula Valley City County Schools
Partnership to collectively address these types of issues; and
BE IT RESOLVED by the City of Temecula, that the City of Temecula will join the
County of Riverside and the Temecula Valley Unified School District in forming an ad-
hoc task force to report on current conditions of emancipating foster youth from our City
and develop recommendations for our role in better assisting these children safely
toward productive adulthood.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of
Temecula this 18th day of November, 2008.
Michael S. Naggar, Mayor
ATTEST: l
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss
CITY OF TEMECULA )
I, Susan W. Jones, MMC, City Clerk of the City of Temecula, do hereby certify that
the foregoing Resolution No. 08-99 was duly and regularly adopted by the City Council of
the City of Temecula at a meeting thereof held on the 18th day of November, 2008, by the
following vote:
AYES: 4 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Comerchero, Edwards, Washington,
Naggar
NOES: 0 COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ABSENT: 1 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Roberts
ABSTAIN: 0 COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
Susan . Jones, MMC
City Clerk
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