2012 in Review: Advocacy in Action

2013 is less than a month away, and with it will come many opportunities and challenges in our year-round work to build a world-class foster care system.  

Before we get there, we want to remind everyone of the progress we made together in 2012. Over the remaining weeks of the year we will feature progress achieved across the agency with the help of our partners, supporters and community leaders.

Legislative Achievements

The Mockingbird Society's 2012 advocacy efforts saw significant results in our efforts to improve outcomes for our most vulnerable children, youth and families. We successfully led the advocacy effort for the expansion of the Extended Foster Care Program, allowing youth pursuing their education, be it high school, GED, college or vocational, to remain in care until age 21, giving them the support and stability necessary to achieve their educational goals. We also supported our community partners in the effort to establish much needed resources for the Home Security Fund. In addition to these legislative milestones, we saw all of our budget priorities, including Street Youth Programs, the Responsible Living Skills Program, and the Office of the Family & Children's Ombudsman protected in the final budget, a true victory considering the deficit the state faced.

These advocacy victories are a product of our year-round efforts to build a world-class foster care system by engaging youth, building relationships with policymakers, and reaching out to our communities.It has resulted in over a decade's worth of progress and the passage over 19 major system reforms. Find out more about our legislative achievements here.