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Photo Gallery: ‘Stop the Recall’ rally at LBCC with President Biden and Governor Newsom

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On Sept. 13, 2021 guests were admitted inside the rally by invitation where they eagerly awaited the arrival of President Joe Biden and Governor Gavin Newsom. After an introduction from Gov. Gavin Newsom reminding people that former President Donald Trump’s legacy was still alive among members of our society, President Biden gave a speech urging attendees to recognize how important this election was for the future of Californians.

Protesters outside the rally gathered at parking lot structure I of LBCC’ LAC-campus, where many yelled out chants about their dislike of Newsom’s COVID-19 lockdowns and mask mandates. Many pro recall demonstrators argued against the recent vaccine mandates, claiming it was a breach of their rights as American citizens.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ‘Stop the Recall’ rally ended the same evening, and President Joe Biden departed California the following morning through Long Beach Airport using Air force One. Newsom’s ‘Stop the Recall’ rally was a success to his reelection as his victory was made public one day after the election, which took place on September 14, 2021.

Student reactions of the Biden-Newsom “Stop the Recall” rally

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Student reactions of the Biden-Newsom “Stop the Recall” rally

A number of LBCC students expressed their opinions regarding the Republican Recall Election at a ‘Stop the Recall’ rally featuring President Joe Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom on September 13th, 2021.

In the audience of the rally, there were dozens of LBCC students standing in the VIP section. Many were cheering and holding ‘vote no’ signs in support of Governor Newsom and President Biden.

Among the audience was Andrea Delgado, a student who voted ‘no’ on the recall. Delgado states that a Republican governor in office could potentially result in more hardships for the working class.

“I know it’s not going to be any better with a Republican governor, especially for working class families. It’s not fair to anyone because we’re going through a pandemic and taking away mask mandates would be horrifying,” said Delgado.

Karleen Antonette, another student against the recall, is concerned about the future of California and the state of the pandemic. 

Antonette believes that with a new governor in office, there’s a good possibility that the rate of COVID-19 infections may change for the worse.

“If Larry Elder wins, then masks are going to be optional and that’s going to be terrible. So many more people are going to get sick, like in Orange County, where no one wears masks,” said Antonette. 

Some students are also worried that the outcome of the recall could potentially have a threat on women’s rights. 

Isabella Pineda, a supporter of Governor Newsom, claimed that she has a passion for social justice and expressed her opinion on the issue.

“Considering the fact that the opposing party and opposing candidate has a very strong view against women and minority women, it’s pretty much fighting against everything that I am,” said Pineda.

The appearance of the President and Governor garnered attention from many students at LBCC, including Wendy Lopez, who stated that she was happy to be a part of such an important event.

Lopez encourages other students to get involved in future political happenings that take place on campus.

“Get out there, look at the news, and vote for the right things,” said Lopez.

President Biden appeared at LBCC for Governor Newsom’s “Stop the Recall” rally

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President Biden appeared at LBCC for Governor Newsom’s “Stop the Recall” rally

President Joe Biden and other prominent political leaders attended a Monday night rally on September 13, 2021 at Long Beach City College in support of Governor Gavin Newsom less than one day before the California recall election. 

The Liberal Arts Campus and the surrounding neighborhood were shut down Monday, early afternoon in preparation for a Stop the Republican Recall campaign event.

Local residents, as well as Long Beach City College students, gathered in support for Governor Newsom. We heard from community leaders, state representatives, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, as well as, President Joe Biden, who stressed the importance of voting against the recall and opposing the strongest Republican candidate, Larry Elder. 

Members of Governor Newsom’s administration, state congressmen, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Jamie Harrison, as well as Senator Alex Padilla spoke at the rally.

Mayor Garcia addressed the crowd urging voters to vote No on the recall, arguing that, “our values and our democracy are under attack.”

Mayor Garcia thanked Governor Newsom as well as President Biden for their response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and criticised Larry Elder for his stance on the pandemic along with his views on women’s rights and social justice.

Later, Governor Newsom took the stage and began stirring the crowd by comparing his opponents policy positions and attitude to former president, Donald Trump. Newsom claimed, “We may have defeated Donald Trump, but we haven’t defeated trumpism.”

Newsom stressed the importance of confronting climate change by highlighting the recent wildfires in Northern California that have burned over 2.2 million acres this year.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is speaking about the GOP efforts to remove him out of office during the Stop the Republican Recall rally at LAC on Sep. 13, 2021. “We may have defeated donald trump but we haven’t defeated trumpism” Governor Newsom said. Photo by Jorge Hernandez.

Biden was then introduced and began his speech by praising California as the most diverse state in the nation and for having the largest economy. 

He went on to argue the importance of this election stating, “The decision you’re about to make is going to have a huge impact on California and it’s going to reverberate across the nation.”

Inside the event, crowds of supporters were receptive to the speeches of the politicians. At the same time, crowds of protestors outside were loud enough to be heard over the course of the rally. 

Regarding the safety of the event amidst COVID-19, vaccinations and masks were required for attendees. 

When asked why the city of Long Beach was selected as one of the final stops for the campaign, Newsom’s team shared that Southern California was pivotal because of the high-density population of voters.  

The closing message from the Newsom campaign focused on protecting diversity, our climate, worker’s rights, as well as women’s reproductive rights which according to the Governor will be, “All at risk if we do not turn out for this recall tomorrow.”

Biden-Newsom supporters and protesters attend the “Stop the Recall” rally at LBCC

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Biden-Newsom supporters and protesters attend the “Stop the Recall” rally at LBCC

Long Beach City College was bombarded by pro-recall protestors against Governor Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden at the LAC-campus, where President Biden and Governor Newsom made an appearance for the ‘Stop the Recall’ rally on September 13th, 2021. 

Protestors could be seen located at LAC- campus’ parking lot structure I, and alongside the sidewalk holding up signs against both Biden and Newsom. Many of their signs were against COVID-19 vaccinations and mask mandates implemented by Biden.

Among the overwhelming amount of protests against Newsom and Biden, demonstrators in support of Newsom were also in attendance. Long time Democratic canvasser Margaret Lopez has been an avid supporter of Newsom and attended the event while displaying “Vote No” poster signs. 

Lopez readily agreed with Newsom’s COVID-19 protocols, which she believes helps protect schools by ensuring that people are getting vaccinated as quickly as possible. 

“I helped vaccinate immigrant workers and served as a translator as well,” said Lopez. 

Another Newsom supporter who attended the “Stop the Recall” rally alongside Lopez was Nicholas Maldonado, who has been an activist since he was 18 years old. Maldonado is originally from San Pedro, California but moved to Florida and made the trip all the way to Long Beach to show his support for both Biden and Newsom. 

Maldonado discussed that his main reason for coming to Long Beach was because he knows firsthand how high the COVID-19 cases are in Florida. He said that Biden and Newsom stood for a united California for all. 

 “This is a Governor that stands for all people here in California, he has done nothing but protect us from Covid. Yes we had a stay at home order, but it protected us from Covid,” said Maldonado. 

Continuing on he said, “I’ve had friends of mine whose parents have died from Covid – kids are dying as we speak. Who are we going to have to make sure that stays in place and that we continue to get people vaccinated – that person is Gavin Newsom”. 

Maldonado also highlighted Newsom’s continued support of the LGBTQ community throughout his political career, saying “Who is going to make sure our rights are being upheld? Who is going to make sure that transgender people are being fought for? This is a guy who has been supporting marriage equality his entire life”.

Maldonado ended the interview with a reminder that unvaccinated people are those who we are really fighting up against right now. 

“If we want to continue to move forward and go back to work then we need to get people vaccinated,” said Maldonado. 

Anti-vaccine protesters at the “Stop the Recall” rally in support of recalling Governor Gavin Newsom, alongside Trump supporters who also attended the rally with similar messages of disdain towards Governor Newsom and his mask mandates for the public. Photo by: Savannah Gomez

On the other end of the LAC campus located near Heartwell Park and across from parking lot structure I, demonstrators against Newsom and Biden had begun to swarm the area. 

Many demonstrators against Biden and Newsom declined interview requests, with only Lea, a protester who would not give her last name, agreeing to speak with me.

She said, “He should be doing his job, not campaigning for one person’s job”, while she held up a poster sign that read ‘Joe stop complaining for losers’ jobs and bring back the 30+ Californian children who are still in Afghanistan’. 

Other protesters’ posters shared similar messages of dislike for Biden and Newsom, in special regards to their COVID-19 lockdowns, vaccine mandates and mask orders while in public. 

Police officers could also be seen trying to maintain the crowds once the arrival of Biden had been recognized by the protesters, who rushed quickly over to Faculty and Carson St. where they remained stalling traffic to obstruct Biden’s arrival on campus. 

LBCC staff reflect on the 20-year anniversary of 9/11

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LBCC staff reflect on the 20-year anniversary of 9/11

For 9/11’s 20-year anniversary, LBCC staff members reflected on their personal experiences on the day of the attacks and the impact the attacks had on the United States.

LBCC professor and former journalist, Gary Metzker, worked as a front page designer for the L.A. Times when the attacks took place. 

“I leaped up out of bed, put the television on and there was the second airplane flying into the second tower. Without hesitation, I jumped into the shower, got dressed and made my way over to the L.A. Times building,” said Metzker. 

With no time to waste, Metzker was busy designing the Extra edition paper copy of the news that day.

“At the moment, I wasn’t feeling any emotion. I was too focused on working and knowing that we had a very small window of time to create this Extra edition,” said Metzker.

LBCC Interim Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz and Assistant Professor Nick Carbonaro both heard the news of the attacks on the radio that day. 

Carbonaro initially thought the announcement of the attacks was part of the radio hosts’ ‘joke of the day’ segment, which he usually heard every Tuesday on his way to school. 

“That whole day at school, it was just a daze for everybody…none of the classes did anything,” said Carbonaro. 

Muñoz said that 9/11 was the most traumatic global event that he had experienced at that point in his life. He said that he never expected America to be hit by such a large-scale attack. 

In an email, LBCC Adjunct Veterans Counselor Danielle Bejarano said, “Sept 11, 2001 was an extremely difficult day for all Americans. Something we never thought was possible, an attack on American soil, was happening before our eyes”. 

Muñoz recalls that in the weeks following 9/11, there was a period of national mourning in the U.S.

“For a few weeks, it was very somber…you could see this national, collective grief that everybody was going through,” said Muñoz.

In the aftermath of the attacks, Carbonaro and Metzker both witnessed the American people put their differences aside and become undivided for a short period. 

“For a nice window of time, it really brought everyone together. There’s no political divide when something like this happens,” said Metzker.

“On September 12th, the United States was the most unified I’ve ever seen it in my lifetime. The moments after 9/11…there were no political parties. It was everybody about America. It was about rebuilding it, getting it back together,” said Carbonaro. 

Metzker is uncertain about how 9/11’s legacy will live on in the future. 

“20 years from now it will be noted, I’m sure, as an event that should never be forgotten. But as far as what type of impact it will have, I’m just not sure,” said Metzker. 
For videos of the interviews conducted with Metzker, Carbonaro, and Muñoz, visit our Instagram.

Counseling Office steps up support for transfers

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Counseling Office steps up support for transfers

While we are getting closer to a post-pandemic world every day, the effects of COVID-19 on students will be felt for many years to come, and LBCC’s Counseling and Transfer Center services have been working to help transfer students navigate a changed admissions landscape.

Where many other California Community College campuses have seen double-digit drops in enrollment, according to an April Inside Higher Ed story. 

LBCC has been an exception, at its lowest point during the pandemic, enrollment at LBCC was only down by 5%, according to Department Head of Counseling Lorraine Blouin who thinks the Counseling Office has played a significant role in achieving that outcome.

“Where other schools have really struggled to adapt, LBCC has really stepped its services in every way imaginable,” said Blouin. 

Like every other aspect of LBCC, the Counseling Office had to transition to providing their services online-only in a matter of days. This conversion was difficult, according to LAC Transfer Center Coordinator Ruben Page.

However, Page, who has been with the counseling office for 20 years, says that, “Once we got the hang of it, we found it actually made our services more efficient.” This was due in large part to their use of Cranium Cafe, an online hosting platform for meetings and online lobbies. 

Students can not only schedule appointments through this service, but can also ask questions in open lobbies and see counselors on-demand for quick questions. Along with the increased accessibility and simplicity that Cranium Cafe provides, the Counseling Office has also consolidated their services onto a single webpage, making it easier for students to get help.

“By allowing students to come together in these lobbies, we’ve seen that more students are getting their questions answered more quickly,” Page explains. He sees this ease of use factor as crucial for effectively helping students.

The Counseling Office has also stepped up their direct outreach to students. By sending emails and texts to students who had expressed interest in counseling services, they were able to broaden their reach and bring more students in to help them.

According to Blouin, they had already stepped this up before the pandemic and had seen a boost in graduation and transfer rates as a result. Page says this has also helped them with marketing their services. 

Even though they were able to put together an efficient platform for their services, they want to make sure students know about the changes they’ve made. “We wanted to move from a ‘build it and they will come’ mindset to ‘build it but tell everyone about.’ I think we did a great job with that marketing,” said Page.

One way they saw this approach pay off was in the transfer bootcamp workshop they host a few times a semester. Through all of fall 2019, Page says somewhere between 60 and 70 students attended a bootcamp session. In fall 2020, over 600 students attended a single workshop.

For students who have seen their academic record take a beating, Page explains that the school has been offering some much needed relief. If a student has done poorly in a class and believes it was the result of pandemic-related hardships, they can request an Excused Withdrawal, or EW. 

An EW allows a student to withdraw from a course even if they’ve already been given a grade. This erases the grade from the student’s transcript, which will no longer affect the student’s GPA. Page says that 4-year universities are also shifting their attitudes towards being more forgiving  EW’s.

“I think that for this period of time, when students were enrolled during COVID, UC’s and CSU’s will allow students to explain their situation. EW’s should have a minimal impact on admissions.” He went on to say that this policy has an expiration date, set by the California Community College Chancellor, which will be when students return to campus full-time.


Any students needing assistance with choosing their courses and finding a pathway to graduation are encouraged to contact the Counseling Office and Transfer Center, which can be done from their homepage at www.lbcc.edu/counseling.

The LBCC Viking Fit Club reaches goals

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The LBCC Viking Fit Club reaches goals

For many students, staying healthy during college seems unattainable and with the pandemic occurring over the past year and a half, it may have seemed impossible.

The search for the motivation to exercise and stay in good health has become increasingly difficult, but with the Viking Fit Club in the palm of their hands, more than 80 members were able to connect and feel a better sense of physical and mental wellness.

After an eight year break, during fall 2020, faculty member Derek Oriee decided to resurrect the Viking Fit Club at Long Beach City College with a strong belief in the club’s power to keep students engaged.

“They used to do the Viking Fit Club when I was a student back in the late 80’s and early 90’s and that’s what made me think about it. I was trying to figure out what I can do to keep students engaged during COVID,” Oriee said.

Using the Strava app, the club members are able to track running, walking, swimming, mountain biking, hiking and other forms of exercise as they can input the time spent at the gym.

Strava is an app that incorporates social network features while using GPS data to track hours or miles spent exercising by the members. Strava also allows members to motivate and watch one another’s progress within their journey to a healthy lifestyle.

During the semester, students and faculty involved in the club can earn prizes due to reaching their milestones. For example, each mile that is jogged earns the individual one point and once they reach 100 points, they earn a milestone T-shirt.

“They have incentives. And about once a month or so I do a special thing where the person with the most points will get free Wahoo’s tacos or something similar. Every so often, I will also do a weekly challenge,” Oriee said.

Student member Camesha Maxwell joined the program after reading the Long Beach City College weekly newsletter.

“It was a great opportunity. It’s like a community and a motivating, encouraging version of social media,” Maxwell said.

In the beginning, Maxwell admits that she was not a jogger. She did have a gym membership before COVID, but when the world shifted, she spent most of her time walking outside and listening to lectures on youtube.

“I set wellness goals to help with coping mechanisms, as far as depression, anxiety, and to have when I was looking at the computer too long,” Maxwell said.

Eventually, Maxwell challenged herself to transform from walking to jogging.

“It wasn’t something that I did over a week. When I jogged that first mile, I was so proud of myself. It certainly motivates me, I feel a great accomplishment. Losing weight was not something that I anticipated doing, but I do see some results. It’s a good feeling, but that wasn’t my main goal. My main goal was to lead a healthier lifestyle to make sure that I achieve my goals,” said Maxwell. 

While faculty club member, Lauren Zale exceeds expectations with 727 points, the highest of both faculty and student members, avid runner and student, Savannah Gomez holds the highest of student points at 395 points.

“Running is really about loving yourself. Running isn’t something that is easy to get into, so when you are running you do it because you want to. You are putting that decision forward. This club has helped me realize I am doing this for myself. It has made me more determined to stick with it and not give up.” said Gomez.

Anyone involved in the LBCC community can join the Viking Fit Club through the link below: 

http://archive.lbcc.edu/StudentLife/Intramural/vikingfitclub.cfm?display=dev

Students from the art department participate in the 2021 Annual Student Spring Art Show – Cafe Culture

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Students from the art department participate in the 2021 Annual Student Spring Art Show – Cafe Culture

Students presented their paintings, drawings and sculptures at the annual Student Art Show, which was held virtually through Facebook and Instagram by the Art department at Long Beach City College. The event was from May 6th to June 4th.

Due to the pandemic the show was held virtually, where many art students participated and showcased their artwork from home.  

This has been the fourth art show that has been held virtually by the art department since the pandemic.

This year’s theme was, “Cafe Culture.” Every year students in the art department at LBCC come together and organize the annual art show where they showcase their most prized pieces such as sculptures, paintings and drawings.

“It is important for these annual student art shows to be held every semester, that way the art students have the chance to show off their pieces and demonstrate what they love doing the most,” said Trevor Norris, the organizer of the art show.

Norris said, “Even though we are not able to do the show in person which in my opinion is more exciting, I am still very glad we are able to do it online, so students are still able to enjoy the art made by their fellow classmates.” 

The theme, “Cafe Culture,” came about because last year’s spring semester semester, faculty on campus chose the best student that presented at the art show that academic year, which determines the theme depending on what the student’s art piece is. 

During normal cirmunstances,  about 70-80 art pieces are shown at the art shows. However, since all of the events are virtual it’s been harder for some students to participate.

This Art piece above is titled “Dog”2021 it was made by artist Brianna Alvarez, this art piece was featured in The Annual Student Art show “Cafe Culture” 2021 via Instagram and Facebook at lbccartgallery1, May 11 through June 4th. Photo courtesy by Brianna Alvarez

Kai Gonzales, a student at LBCC, has been participating in the art shows for about three years now since first attending. Gonzales is majoring in art, specifically sculpture, and has also been doing it as a hobby for a long time. 

For this year’s art show, Gonzales made a sculpture and his piece was named, “Iron Out,” and said, “My piece ‘Iron Out’ is a large piece made entirely out of brown and white paper. The art piece is very fun and creative, it is mainly made out entirely of paper and it is crumbled to create different sculptures that can be interpreted in many ways.” 

When asking Gonzales his opinion on the theme of this years art show, he said, “I feel it’s cool that they went around the theme of, ‘Cafe Culture,’ where it’s kind of like the atmosphere where you can grab some coffee with a mate, partner, colleague, etc. and just chat about the art that is displayed around you. I feel all the art in the art show has that feeling where it gives that cafe culture vibe.”

Students believe the Art department allows and helps students artistically express themselves. Students being able to express their work, even virtually, really shows the creativity and intuition the art community has to offer.

Students attend Virtual POSE party to kickoff pride month

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Students attend Virtual POSE party to kickoff pride month

The Long Beach City College “POSE” virtual watch party event, held over Zoom, viewed and discussed the LGBTQIA+ community and their hardships that are expressed within the show. 

POSE is an American drama television show featured on FX starring, Michaela Antonia Jaé “Mj” Rodriguez, Billy Porter, Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore, and many more inspirational transgender individuals.

“This is the largest primetime show that has majority cast members who are from the transgender community. It also contains a group on the other side of the camera that are transgender, as well,” said Student Equity Coordinator and avid show watcher, Dr. Jerome Hunt.

Not only does the show call attention to the lifestyles of New York City’s LGBTQ community, but it also highlights underground drag ball culture in the 1980’s.

Ball culture consists of competitions where individuals, usually drag queens, perform and compete under different genres and categories. Some of these categories can be, “Bring it like royalty,” as shown in the episode, where the competitors dressed like queens and kings from the aristocratic era. 

Emerging in the 1920’s, balls consisted of mainly white men putting on drag fashion shows. As time went on, ball participation increased and became a safe space for queer people of color. 

As said in the show, “Balls are a gathering of people who are not welcome to gather anywhere else.”

The show began with a captivating scene, leading us through one of many different acts that showcases the risks that houses (groups) take in order to achieve greatness on the competition floor. The members of the community continued on to watch the support that the “siblings” in the “House of Evangelista” exhibited towards one another.

These “houses” were not specifically structural places, but more of a kinship. They consisted of members of the LGBTQ+ community that created families within themselves. Even though they aren’t blood related, they would call themselves family because they would create a nurturing space for one another. These houses were also important at balls, because they would each showcase what each house has to offer, and create a reputation for them.

“This is really a monumental show, because it is not just being told from someone else’s perspective about the community. It is the community telling their own perspective and shedding light on stories that are not widely known.” said Hunt.

After the show, the viewers had a chance to sit in and participate in a discussion. The discussion consisted of those in the LGBTQ community and their allies sharing how the show opened their eyes and why topics like these are important.

“When we use the acronym LGBTQIA+, a lot of people tend to jump over the T, transgender. And this show really helps bring transgender identity up to the forefront. Even just talking about the idea of passing other transgender women.” said ally and first time show watcher, David Brahl.

Overall, the discussion helped a lot of people realize how important it is to continue supporting the LGBTQIA+ community. 

As we are in June, it’s important to learn more about how to support one another and what everyone can do to be stronger allies for the queer community.

To learn more about ball culture click the link below:

Underground Ball Culture

“A lot of people think that children in foster care are just bad kids and that’s not it,” said LBCC student during fostered youth ally training

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“A lot of people think that children in foster care are just bad kids and that’s not it,” said LBCC student during fostered youth ally training

On May 14, former foster children, LBCC staff, and foster parents gathered in a Zoom meeting called, “Fostered Youth Ally Training,” to discuss foster parenting and the many struggles a foster child can endure in life. 

Theresa Reed, former foster child and author of the book, “It’s Not Drama, It’s Trauma,” described her first experience with foster care and said, “I went into the system at 13 and on the last day of school in 7th grade my mother picked me up from school which I thought was unusual. She told me to pack some stuff for me.” 

Reed describes this as unusual and wasn’t sure what was going on or what to expect. 

She continued and said, “My sister didn’t tell me what was going on. So my mother dropped me and my sister off at the DCFS office on Colorado Boulevard, not a whole lot of conversation and so that was my entry into foster care.” 

Reed’s story demonstrates the unconventional lifestyles and ways that foster children are brought into the world of foster care. Being ripped from a family like this can be traumatic for young children.

Reed said, “Foster care is designed to provide a temporary home for children whose parents are unable to take care of them. Children who are in foster care become wards of the court or wards of the state.”

There can be misunderstandings when being a child in the foster care system and Reed wanted to clarify that by sharing her story.

Reed said, “I’m number 3 out of my mothers 11 children. What I came to realize very early was there was a pattern that developed, when we turned 13 we were sent away in one form or another. It was part of my healing process trying to make sense of what happened, why I was sent to foster care.”

The goal in this Zoom event was to reduce the stigma of foster care. “A lot of people think that children in foster care are just bad kids and that’s not it. It really has nothing to do with the child’s behavior but the lack of capacity from the parent,” said Reed.

A video was played that portrayed abuse in foster home settings. Trauma can be implemented into a child’s life and mentality. The video ended with the quote, “I am loveable, I am worthy of care and that glimmer of light, it makes all the difference. Glimmers of light give me hope that someday my summer will come.” 

Brenton Reed, former foster child and current LBCC student, shared his experiences with foster care. 

Reed recalled how he entered a foster child lifestyle and often misbehaved in his youth. 

“Nobody really understood me, nobody took the time out to see why I was the way I was, the things that I encountered, the things that I’ve been through,” said Reed.

These stories show that certain kids who misbehave or stay to themselves could be dealing with a lot from their past, still trying to figure things out. 

All it takes is for someone or more to reach out to them with an open-mind and understand why they might be the way they are. 

Reed said, “I feel I came from a cycle of being raised a certain way and his parents bring the same things they were taught to their kids.” Success to him means breaking that cycle.

Kristi Lopez, district representative for the Monrovia, Duarte, Claremont and Bradbury region, discussed a broad overview of foster youth legislation, which is meant to help improve the lives of foster youth.  

First there is the Extended Foster Care, Assembly Bill 12 which allows foster youth to stay in foster care until the age of 21 and go in and out if previously emancipated. Before if they were emancipated before 18 or turned 18 they would not be allowed back into foster care.

Lopez also addressed the Public Social Services Assembly Bill 403 which allows foster youth to receive a Chafee or Next Up grant. The grants give people who were foster children between the ages 16 and 18 college funds. 

Finally, there is the Student Financial Aid bill Senate Bill 150 which allows youth to receive those grants for four consecutive semesters.

To conclude, the hosts of this training want to encourage and educate for a better environment for foster youth by educating themselves and others on how to deal with foster youth. 

Foster children can go through trauma from being ripped away from parents and siblings alone. This training helps one think about the background of different children; what trials and tribulations they may be going through or have gone through.

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