Building Partnerships to Improve the Lives of Foster Youth

The LA Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC) is building a community of organizations working in concert to ensure that every youth is served in a holistic way.

Our Vision

Transition age foster youth in Los Angeles County have the knowledge and skills to allow them to achieve economic mobility and flourish in their personal lives.

Co-Coveners of the OYC

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming Events at this time.

Our Campaigns

Foster Youth at Work
Foster Youth College Advancement Project
OYC Young Leaders

OYF Common Measures

The LAOYC originated in 2013 through the Aspen Institute’s Forum for Community Solutions—Opportunity Youth Forum (OYF), a national network of urban, rural, and tribal communities seeking to improve education and employment pathways for opportunity youth.  Opportunity youth are individuals aged 16-24 who are or have previously been disconnected from school and work or have connections to the child welfare, justice, and/or homeless systems.

 

Opportunity youth have historically been difficult to count, as they are defined as a group which does not appear in either of two data sets – those in an educational program and those not working. With the OYF Common Measures, however, we can calculate—for each unique geographic area of an OYF collaborative—the overall opportunity youth disconnection rate, and the disconnection rates for high school, post-secondary and workforce annually for the entire community.

 

This two-page infographic describes the state of the Opportunity Youth Forum Common Measures for 2021 in summary, across the entire Aspen network.

The four measures are:
Overall community disconnection rate:

The rate of young people disconnected from work and school (i.e., opportunity youth; note systems involved youth are not included).

High school disconnection rate:

The rate of young people without a high school diploma/GED and not working who are disconnected from high school.

Post-secondary disconnection rate:

The rate of young people with a high school diploma/GED but without a postsecondary credential, who are disconnected from postsecondary education and not working.

Workforce disconnection rate:

The rate of young people with a postsecondary credential but not enrolled in postsecondary—who are disconnected from the workforce.

Get Connected

Twinspire will be hosting community hikes every other month for supporters, donors, staff, and youth to connect. 🥾 The next hike will be Saturday, May 11th at the Culver City Stairs. Snacks will be provided.

Email staff@twinspire.org for more information

Join the Office of Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell along with Los Angeles County departments, community stakeholders, and youth for a panel and community discussion on dismantling the school-to-prison-pipeline. Happening this Saturday, March 16 from9:30 am – 12:30 pm at the Community Reentry Center: Developing Opportunities and Offering Reentry Solutions (D.O.O.R.S) located at 3965 S. Vermont Ave., 3rd floor. Los Angeles, CA 90037.

Scan the QR code or copy this link here: https://bit.ly/rjle-march-16
#prisonpipeline #lacounty #youthdevelopment #restorativejustice #youthengagement

LA:RISE Youth Academy provides individuals experiencing homelessness with 250 hours of transitional employment, wrap around services including housing and other social services. Participants can earn up to $4,000!

Requirements: 18-30 years of age experiencing housing insecurity meet one of the housing criteria in the flyer.

For the 3rd year in a row, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services is partnering with The Community College Foundation (TCCF) and Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) to help current and former foster youth file their taxes, amend or file for previous years, and claim the California Foster Youth Tax Credit worth up to $1,117!

Since 2022, they have helped 324 youth secure over $667,000 in tax refunds! We were also recently recognized by the California State Association of Counties, winning an award for innovation.

These agencies are IRS certified Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Sites, so youth can be sure their personal information is safe and their filings are FREE and accurate.

Sign up here: https://calendly.com/vita-site

Don’t miss the opportunity to obtain your REAL ID before the close of 2023!! Please join ILP as we host a special opportunity for our youth (any age up from 5 to age 25) on Wednesday, February 28 from 9:00am-5:00pm to obtain their Real ID at the Torrance DMV. Please see attached flyer for detailed information and registration including future event dates. Here is the registration link for Feb, Mar and Apr: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YDSILPDMV20241

The benefits of our youth attending and obtaining their Real ID at this event include:

· Expedited service
· Reduced fee
· Dedicated team to assist youth with the process

Please remind your youth to bring the following:

· $10 Reduce fee (Please contact your ILP Coordinator for the verification for reduce fee form to ensure rate)
· Bring original documents (birth certificate, passport, permanent resident card etc.)
· Bring two forms of California residency (home utility bill, cellular bill, bank statement, medical or insurance card, school records etc.)
· Bring your Agency-Group Home Agreement, Placement-Agency Foster Family Agreement or Foster-Parent Agreement
· Bring your Social Security Card