California Foster & Kincare Network

Los Angeles, CA, March 7, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​Educate California, a charitable non-profit organization, today announced that it was awarded a $25,000 grant by the Max Factor Family Foundation to establish the California Foster & Kincare Network (CFKN), a platform of centralized resources for foster and kinship care students and their families that improves the system of support for these high need and vulnerable youth.  Educate California's mission is to ensure that all California foster and kinship care youth graduate prepared for life after high school.

The CFKN programs and services are vital to the community because they address California's 945:1 student-to-counselor ratio, the high number of children in foster care system, and low high school and college graduation rates for foster youth.

The Max Factor Family Foundation has a long-standing history of supporting youth and is committed to help establish the California Foster & Kincare Network. We are particularly excited to join Educate California and other organizations in a new kind of collaborative model that may hold the key to addressing some of the critical challenges faced by foster and kincare families"

David Factor, Max Factor Family Foundation Trustee

The CFKN focuses on graduation first by providing students, parents, caregivers and service providers with essential resources that are traditionally provided by high school counselors.  The CFKN, scheduled to launch in the summer of 2016, will provide an integrated approach for direct and centralized access to the free services and resources foster and kinship care youth need to graduate high school, prepared for college, careers and life after high school.  The network will bring together the right collaborative partners with the right expertise to support integration efforts, and will provide awareness of and access to essential resources and services. A statewide, "311 like" resource network will be established to empower foster and kinship care youth, their families and non-profit organizations that serve this community.

The Max Factor Family Foundation provided initial funding as a leverage grant to encourage other foundations to support funding and implementation of the CFKN initiative.  "The Max Factor Family Foundation has a long-standing history of supporting youth and is committed to help establish the California Foster & Kincare Network.   We are particularly excited to join Educate California and other organizations in a new kind of collaborative model that may hold the key to addressing some of the critical challenges faced by foster and kincare families," says David Factor, a trustee of the Max Factor Family Foundation.

Educate California will take the leadership role to bring together the collaborative partners.  "There are several organizations that have specific expertise on how to serve high need and vulnerable youth; however, there is no California based collaborative or coordinated effort effectively unifying these needed services," explains Eric Moore, executive director of Educate California.  "We appreciate the Max Factor Family Foundation's support and confidence as we work together with our partner organizations to ensure that these high need youth have the support, encouragement and examples of success needed to make the transition into adulthood."

The learn more about the California Foster and Kincare Network, including how you access services or how you can become a partner, please contact Eric Moore at 310.491.6560 or eric@ educate-ca.org.

About the Max Factor Family Foundation
The Max Factor Family Foundation supports organizations that inspire hope and offer relief to local communities in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Its grantmaking focuses on programs and services, research and scholarships in the areas of healthcare, education, and on environmental improvement with the potential to positively impact youth, seniors and other vulnerable populations.

About Educate California
Educate California's mission is to ensure that all California foster and kincare youth graduate prepared for life after high school.  It serves 14 - 24 year old foster, kinship care and low-income students, their families and organizations that empower youth. To accomplish its objective, Educate California provides parents, caregivers and service providers with essential resources that historically would be provided by high school counselors.  It also works directly with students without traditional support systems.   To learn more about Educate California please visit educate-ca.org.