John Burton Advocates for Youth

03/30/2026

Join JBAY, the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), and the State Treasurer’s Office (STO) for a statewide webinar on the recent expansion of the CalKIDS Scholarship for foster youth taking place on April 8th from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

Learn how this time-limited opportunity provides up to $1,500 for eligible students in grades 1–12, how to identify eligible youth using WebGrants reports, and how to support students in claiming their accounts. Participants will leave with practical tools and strategies to support outreach and help foster youth take an early step toward college and career success.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_c4AOpf_GSeeTdaq2Ib8Vvg

02/26/2026

Breaking News!

California Assemblymember Celest Rodriguez has introduced AB 2251 to expand students’ access to financial aid by increasing transparency around institutional cost of attendance (COA) budget calculations and standardizing the COA adjustment process. The bill would ensure students across California have consistent, timely, and accessible pathways to request adjustments that reflect their actual financial expenses.

We extend our sincere thanks to Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez and to , principal co-author, for authoring this important legislation and championing equitable access to higher education.

JBAY is proud to co-sponsor AB 2251 alongside the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), UC Student Association (USCA) and the Cal State Student Association (CSSA).

Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez:
“Our students should not face hardship or lose opportunities because our policies fail to reflect their lived realities. I am committed to helping students afford higher education and to advancing policies that ensure they can access the full financial aid they are eligible for. I am proud to introduce AB 2251 because every student deserves a real chance at success—and that means making policy changes that maximize the financial support available to them.”

To learn more: https://jbay.org/2026-advocacy/

02/24/2026

The priority deadline to submit your 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or California Dream Act Application (CADAA) is March 2, 2026.

Filing by this date ensures priority consideration for essential state financial aid, including:

- Cal Grant, up to full tuition and an additional $6,000 per year for eligible foster youth
- Middle Class Scholarship
- And other institutional aid

As an independent student (if you were in foster care at any time since age 13, or experienced unaccompanied homelessness), you are not required to provide parental information—making the process more straightforward.

Apply today to maximize your opportunities for higher education or career training:

FAFSA: studentaid.gov/
CADAA: dream.csac.ca.gov/

Note: Students planning to attend a California community college have until September 2, 2026, but we strongly encourage applying by March 2 to access the broadest range of aid.

For resources and guidance, visit jbay.org/resources/financial-aid-guide/

02/23/2026

It’s an exciting and urgent time at John Burton Advocates for Youth. At a moment when federal cuts are weakening critical safety nets, JBAY is proud to be advancing five key bills in the 2026 legislative cycle to improve stability, housing, and opportunity for foster youth and young people who have experienced homelessness across California.
These five bills focus on solutions we know work:

🏠 1. Securing ongoing funding to reduce youth homelessness Building on the success of the HHAP program, which has already helped more than 50,000 youth, this bill will guarantee annual funding dedicated specifically to youth.

🎓 2. Expanding access to college housing and enrollment This bill removes barriers by ensuring priority housing, deferred housing costs, and priority class registration for foster youth and students who have experienced homelessness.

🔑 3. Preventing homelessness among former foster youth By aligning housing assistance programs and improving funding consistency, this bill helps more young people access and maintain stable housing.

💰 4. Improving access to financial aid JBAY research found many colleges underestimate students’ living costs. This bill ensures transparency and gives students a pathway to access the aid they truly need.

🤝 5. Strengthening access to Extended Foster Care Extended Foster Care reduces homelessness and improves long-term outcomes. This bill ensures every eligible young person can access these critical supports.

These five bills represent practical, high-impact solutions that strengthen existing systems and create real pathways to stability. In the weeks ahead, JBAY will be in Sacramento meeting with legislators and joining Youth Advocates and partners for Lobby Day to build support.

This is how change happens.

02/23/2026

No student should have to couch surf just to make it to the first day of college.

This morning, JBAY Executive Director Sarah Pauter joined Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens to announce AB 2766, critical legislation to remove barriers to campus housing for foster youth and students experiencing homelessness.

Sarah knows this challenge firsthand. After being accepted to college, she did everything right — but when housing deposits were due months before financial aid arrived, she had nowhere to go. She spent the summer couch surfing, simply trying to hold on until school began.

That experience is not an exception. It is the result of systems that were never designed with foster youth and homeless students in mind.

AB 2766 fixes these systemic gaps by:
🏠 Providing priority access to campus housing
📅 Deferring housing deposits and upfront fees until financial aid is disbursed
🔎 Ensuring campuses identify eligible students without requiring repeated self-disclosure
🔑 Expanding access to year-round housing, including during academic breaks

As Sarah shared today: “AB 2766 removes barriers created by systems that were not designed with foster youth and homeless students in mind. It aligns housing access and fee timing with the realities students face — so they aren’t locked out of college before they even arrive.”

California has led the nation in expanding opportunity for foster youth. This bill continues that leadership by ensuring students can move from admission to enrollment — and ultimately to graduation — with stability and support.

We are proud to co-sponsor AB 2766 and grateful to Assemblymember Ahrens for his partnership.

Because every student deserves the chance to start college with a home, not uncertainty. 🎓

02/17/2026

Excited to share that the JBAY Education Team recently attended the CHEBNA 2026 Summit in Sacramento!

This statewide convening brought together over 800 advocates, educators, students, and partners from the California Community Colleges, CSU, and UC systems to advance basic needs support—focusing on equity, economic justice, food insecurity, homelessness, parenting responsibilities, foster youth pathways, and holistic student success.

Huge shoutouts to our own Jessica and Chris for their standout contributions. They delivered impactful workshops on postsecondary success strategies for foster youth, including FAFSA/CADAA completion, claiming CalKIDS scholarships, and related pathways to remove barriers. Jessica partnered with The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) and joined the powerful opening plenary session on economic justice, presenting alongside esteemed leaders: moderator Cristian Ulisses Reyes, Allison Beer, Daisy Gonzales, PhD, and Lorena Lara Rodriguez—sparking essential discussions on systemic change and holistic support.

Chris partnered with Rio Hondo College and California State University, Long Beach to highlight student-centered basic needs work, contributing to sessions that amplified lived experiences and fostered equity and optimism.

We’re proud of the meaningful connections made and the momentum built toward more equitable, supportive higher education for California’s most vulnerable students—including foster youth and those facing basic needs insecurity. 💙

02/05/2026

Investing to Address Youth Homelessness Pays Off. We Must Keep It Up. 💙

Last fall, JBAY's report showed targeted state funding (via HHAP's youth set-aside) reduced youth homelessness in California by 24% from 2019–2024 — even as overall homelessness rose 24% and youth homelessness increased 11% nationwide.

HHAP has served over 50,000 youth with housing, services, and rental assistance, proving tailored youth programs prevent long-term adult homelessness.

But threats loom: No new HHAP funding for 2025-26 (only $500M earmarked for 2026-27, 50% less), plus federal HUD changes restricting funds. Progress could stall without sustained investment.
KQED featured JBAY and Youth United for Community Action (YUCA) highlighting why youth-specific support works — and why we can't afford cuts.
We know what works. Will California act to sustain this progress?

Learn more: https://jbay.org/investing-to-address-youth-homelessness-pays-off-we-must-keep-it-up/

01/06/2026

📉 Youth Homelessness Is Down in California — But Progress Is at Risk

A new report shows that youth homelessness in California has dropped an encouraging 24% between 2019 and 2024 — a decline attributed to targeted state investments in housing, supportive services, and youth-centered programs.
KQED

This trend stands in stark contrast to national patterns and speaks to what’s possible when policymakers prioritize young people’s stability and safety. Organizations on the ground — like Youth United for Community Action (YUCA) in East Palo Alto — are playing a critical role in that success.
KQED

But that progress is fragile. Recent state budget decisions and federal funding changes could undermine the gains we’ve made, threatening critical support systems for the very youth we’re working to help.
KQED

At John Burton Advocates for Youth, we know that ending youth homelessness requires not just data and dollars, but true partnership with young people and youth-serving organizations. Today’s news shows that progress is real — and worth protecting.

🔗 Read the KQED article:

A recent report found youth homelessness dropped 24% between 2019 and 2024 in California, thanks in large part to dedicated state funding.

01/01/2026

✨💙 Happy New Year — Welcome 2026! 💙✨

As we step into 2026, JBAY is filled with gratitude for the youth, partners, advocates, and supporters who power this work every single day.

In the year ahead, we remain committed to expanding housing opportunities, strengthening educational pathways, and advancing the policies that help California’s foster youth and youth experiencing homelessness build stable, thriving futures.

Thank you for standing with us — for believing in young people, investing in their potential, and joining us in the movement for equity and opportunity.

Here’s to a year of impact, progress, and possibility.
Happy New Year from all of us at JBAY! 🎉💙

12/23/2025

🎁✨ Happy Holidays from JBAY! ✨🎁

As we close out the year, we’re reflecting on the incredible strength, brilliance, and resilience of California’s foster youth and young people experiencing homelessness.

At JBAY, our work is grounded in one simple belief: every young person deserves stability, opportunity, and a safe place to call home. This year, with your partnership, we helped expand housing, improve access to education, and strengthen the supports youth rely on to build independent, thriving lives.

To our community of youth, advocates, supporters, and partners — thank you for showing up with heart, determination, and hope. You make this movement possible.

From all of us at JBAY, we wish you a joyful, restful, love-filled holiday season and a bright start to the new year. 💙

Together, we’ll keep fighting for a future where every young person can succeed.

12/22/2025

📚 JBAY Holiday Book Club: Four Reads for Reflection

The end of the year is a time when many of us slow down, reflect, and reach for books that deepen our understanding of the world and the work ahead. At JBAY, the holidays are a moment to reconnect with the values that guide our commitment to foster youth and young people.

This season, we’re sharing four books that offer powerful insight into the foster care system, youth resilience, and the impact of strong public systems:

1. I Yell Because I Care – Senator John Burton
The memoir of our founder, this book traces Senator Burton’s decades of public service and the convictions that shaped his fight for children and families. It is foundational to JBAY’s mission and the history that continues to guide our work.

2. A Place Called Home – David Ambroz
A clear-eyed account of childhood marked by poverty, homelessness, and foster care. Ambroz’s story underscores the urgency of early, stable support and the possibility that emerges when young people are given real opportunity.

3. Invisible Child – Andrea Elliott
This Pulitzer Prize–winning work follows a family navigating housing instability, child welfare involvement, and public systems under strain. Deeply reported and humane, it remains one of the most important books on child welfare in America.

4. Three Little Words – Ashley Rhodes Courter
An intimate memoir of growing up in foster care, written with honesty about fear, displacement, and resilience. A widely read book that continues to resonate with advocates and caregivers alike.

If you’re looking for meaningful holiday reading or a thoughtful gift, these titles are a powerful place to begin.

Warm holiday wishes from all of us at JBAY 💙

12/15/2025

🎉 Honoring Senator John Burton on His Birthday — December 15 🎉

Today, we celebrate the birthday of Senator John Burton, the founder of John Burton Advocates for Youth and a lifelong champion for California’s foster youth and young people experiencing homelessness.

Senator Burton built JBAY on a simple, powerful belief: every young person deserves the chance to thrive. His unwavering commitment, bold leadership, and decades of advocacy transformed the landscape of supports for foster youth across California — expanding access to housing, education, and stability for thousands.

Though Senator Burton passed away on September 7, 2025, his legacy lives on in every young person who finds hope, opportunity, and a path forward because of the work he set in motion.

Today, and every day, we carry forward his fierce dedication, unapologetic love for youth, and relentless fight for justice.

Happy Birthday, Senator Burton.
Your impact continues to shine. 💙