Executive Director Joseph Tietz of California Youth Connection announced last week that he will leave the non-profit this September after six years of service.
The organization provides advocacy and leadership training to foster youth and adults. It also creates and advocates for legislative measures that support youth in foster care.
Tietz announced his departure through the California Youth Connection’s website.
“I leave CYC with a multitude of emotions,” Tietz stated in an online letter. He said the youth he has met through the organization have inspired and transformed him into a better person.
“As we prepare for this transition in the leadership of CYC, we do so with hope and confidence in the future,” he continued.
Under Tietz, California Youth Connection successfully advocated for the passage of California Fostering Connections to Success Act (AB12). The bill extended foster care benefits to eligible foster youth ages 18 to 21 to help them transition out of the foster care system. The organization has worked to ensure appropriate implementation of the bill after it came into effect in 2012.
Also in 2012, California Youth Connection took over the Y.O.U.T.H Training Project. The project employs current and former foster youth to educate child welfare professionals on how to better serve youth.
In Tietz’s farewell letter included a statement from Jason Bryant, board president for California Youth Connection.
“The Board [of Directors] is taking all the steps necessary to assure that CYC will continue to effectively serve with great commitment and care,” Bryant said. “We pledge to do everything we can to make the transition smooth and effective and to keep [supporters] informed.”
Following Tietz’s departure, California Youth Connection will work with the consulting firm Yeager and Carlson LLC to find an interim replacement. The organization will find a permanent successor during the interim director’s stay.