California Youth Connection was founded in 1988 by a group of foster youth and supportive adults to provide a vehicle for California foster youth to learn leadership and advocacy skills and to engage directly with policymakers to improve the foster care system. Founded on the model of youth empowerment, CYC maintains a dual focus on policy and youth development.
CYC is the only organization in California to engage foster youth in the policy making process. Our foster youth leaders have created a fundamental paradigm shift in child welfare policy in California, ensuring that foster youth are at the center of child welfare policymaking for the first time in history.