Advisory Board of Directors 

Senator John Burton (Ret.), Chair

Julie Brandt  

Kimiko Burton  

Miles Cooley

John Garcia

Rick Mariano

Christine Minnehan

Nathan Nayman

Frank Quattrone

Nina Salarno Ashford

Sami Tahbazof

Tina Thomas

Honorary Board of Directors

Paul Thomas Anderson

Tom Arnold

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca

Warren Beatty

Annette Bening

Clint Eastwood

William Friedkin

Sherry Lansing

Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle

Welcome!

Our Mission
The John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, California dedicated to improving the quality of life for California’s homeless children and developing policy solutions to prevent homelessness.

About Us
The John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes was founded in 2004 by retired President Pro Tem of the California State Senate John Burton. Through the Foundation, Senator Burton promotes the values of nurturing children and youth who are less fortunate in life than most. His vision is the Foundation's mission: dedicated to improving the quality of life for California's homeless children and developing policy solutions to prevent homelessness. Together with the generosity of our supporters, Senator Burton, through the Foundation, is vigorously working to help the most vulnerable among us - the 100,000 homeless children living in California. The Foundation pursues this mission through the following strategies:

• Grantmaking
  The Foundation makes grants to California community based organizations that promote healthy development for at-risk children whose lives are impacted by the challenges of homelessness and poverty.

• Public Policy and Advocacy
  The Foundation works in partnership with nonprofit organizations, government agencies and local communities to develop and advocate for solutions to the challenges of the foster care system on the county, state and federal levels.

• Independent Research
  Through its independent research, the Foundation informs the development of effective public policy and practice in the field of foster care.  

• Promoting Public Awareness and Engagement
  The Foundation works to educate the public about the foster care system through a comprehensive communications strategy.

• Coalition Building & Community Organizing
  The Foundation bridges the divide between policy and practice by engaging a wide range of stakeholders in its work, including nonprofit service providers, government, local communities, organized labor and advocacy organizations.

The John Burton Foundation has a strong track record of uniting organizations to improve outcomes for California’s children and youth in foster care. Most recently, the Foundation advocated for the removal of a key implementation barrier to the State’s only program addressing the housing needs of homeless former foster youth, the Transitional Housing Placement Plus program (THP-Plus). Through its public education and outreach efforts, the Foundation also played a key role the program’s $4 million budget augmentation, which represents a 300% increase from the previous fiscal year.

The Burton Foster Care Project has also worked for the inclusion of $50 million in affordable housing for homeless former foster youth in November's State bond measure. Through its advocacy, the Burton Foster Care Project has also heavily influenced the impending additional funding of $83.2 million statewide for kinship support and reduced caseloads for social workers.

Senator John Burton
John Burton has been one of the most effective leaders in the State of California over the last 40 years. He began his career as a deputy attorney general before his election to the State Assembly in 1964. He was then elected to Congress in 1974 and returned to private life in 1983. In 1988, Burton returned to the State Assembly and then moved on to the State Senate in 1996, becoming President Pro Tempore in 1998 until his retirement in 2004.

The cumulative impact of his leadership is significant. While in the State Legislature, Burton focused on a range of issues including access to care, mental health and the prevention of violence and substance abuse. Examples of his leadership include championing legislation that provides health insurance coverage for California’s workers, improved care for the mentally ill homeless and strengthening the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program. Burton was a formidable force against budget cuts to health and welfare programs for the 750,000 blind, aged and disabled Californians who use Medi-Cal. A longtime supporter of violence prevention, Sen. Burton’s advocacy ensured that juvenile crime prevention programs received historic levels of support.

During his 40 years of public service, including terms in the U.S. Congress, the California State Assembly, and the California State Senate, Burton was a champion of California’s most underserved populations. Although he retired as President Pro Tempore of the Senate in 2004, Burton’s commitment to Californians continues as the volunteer chair of the John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes. Through this project, Burton is seeking to address broad changes in the child welfare system relating to foster care.

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