The Power of Policy Change

What if you could invest in an organization that, with an annual budget of $2 million, has produced $3.3 billion in new support for California’s most vulnerable youth over the past 17 years? 

John Burton Advocates for Youth – or JBAY for short – is it.

Founded in 2004 by John Burton, a former state assemblyman, state senator and congressman from San Francisco, JBAY is laser-focused on policy, evaluation, and research in service of supporting California’s foster and homeless youth. Based in San Francisco, JBAY has been the driving force behind countless state bills and public partnerships that have helped foster youth gain safe housing, food security and access to post-secondary education. With statistics showing that foster youth are much more likely than their peers to struggle during the fitful transition into adulthood, JBAY-linked programs have been a lifeline for many thousands of young people.

Just ask Luz Hernandez. In an interview, Hernandez says that she was brought to San Francisco by her father when she was 14, forced to work 12-hour days in a laundry and bakery while her father pocketed the money. While still a minor, her father went back to Central America, leaving her homeless in a public park with no money. 

Luz was fiercely determined, dreaming of the chance to attend college. And JBAY was there, supporting her as a Guardian Scholar at San Francisco City College; getting her textbooks through the Burton Book Fund; and perhaps most importantly, finding her stable housing so she could turn her attention to school.

“When I started at City College I was living in a garage, under terrible conditions, and working two jobs even to make that happen,” Luz says. But getting secure housing “changed everything. Simply having a roof over my head meant I could pass my classes without having to constantly worry about becoming homeless again.”

Luz eventually graduated with honors from SF State, and was admitted into the Master in Social Work program at U.C. Berkeley. She is currently a housing case manager for homeless youth in San Francisco, using the webinars and other resources that JBAY created to reach homeless foster youth like herself.

Amy Lemley, JBAY’s executive director, is immensely proud of Hernandez. “So many of our foster or homeless youth have a strong drive to succeed, and I feel we have the responsibility to meet them halfway,” Lemley says. 

And how should society do that? “I’ve always believed in the transformative power of government,” Lemley explains. “This isn’t the time to be ambivalent about the power of the public sector.”

Through 2022, JBAY will push hard to extend state support of foster and/or homeless youth in college, advocating for policies and rules that don’t disadvantage young people who have already suffered so much. 

“When we as a society put these supportive policies in place, foster youth can make great things happen.”