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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Steinberg Institute and iFoster have launched a new website designed to expand access for opportunity youth (young people aged 16 to 24 and not enrolled in school or working) to careers in behavioral health, according to a Steinberg Institute media release.
The Steinberg Institute, a nonprofit public policy organization dedicated to advancing behavioral health policy, partnered with iFoster, a nonprofit that provides support and resources to foster youth, to establish networks and career pipelines into the behavioral health workforce.
The initiative focuses on opportunity youth in Los Angeles County. The organizations released a video highlighting iFoster’s Peer Support Specialist training program, which serves as the foundation for the new project. The video featured examples of how peer support can benefit current and former foster youth and strengthen the broader behavioral health system.
iFoster’s original training program equips youth to provide “culturally responsive peer support” in community and educational settings. The new initiative aims to create long-term, sustainable career opportunities within California’s behavioral health workforce.
“Now more than ever, investing in our youth is critical,” Serita Cox, CEO and co-founder of iFoster, said. “By joining forces with the Steinberg Institute, we’re ensuring that young people who have navigated complex systems are the ones shaping them going forward and guiding their peers.”
The website and initiative advance a central mission of the Steinberg Institute: to strengthen and diversify California’s behavioral health workforce.
“As we look to grow and diversify our behavioral health workforce in California, we must prioritize recruitment that focuses on those with lived experience,” Karen Larsen, CEO of the Steinberg Institute, said. “This project does that and provides a career pathway for former foster youth.”
