ALTADENA, Calif. — Research shows nearly 100 times a day, a child in California is placed in foster care and often, these are the youth that industry leaders say are falling through the cracks.

It’s why they are concerned about Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget cuts that could impact programs that take in foster youth and set them on the right track.

Here in his room with his new shoes, Andrew is happy. It’s a feeling he doesn’t take lightly after he says he’s had a difficult childhood, growing up in 12 foster homes under conditions he prefers not to talk about.

Now, the 18-year-old finally has something to look forward to. “Graduation,” he said. “I can’t wait. It’s gonna be fun.”

Andrew lives in a short term residential therapeutic program at Sycamores, a behavioral health services organization.

The program is for boys ages 11 to 18 years old. Most are from the foster care system, in need of intensive therapeutic support after experiencing significant trauma.

Andrew now has a team of people supporting him, from a youth advocate and child wellness specialist to a therapist and even a tutor.

Tim Lin is the assistant vice president of Sycamores, overseeing this program and several others. He shows the facility where 16 youth stay for three to six months at a time.

Staff at Sycamores say this is known as the last house on the block, meaning they are the only provider who can successfully set the most challenging teens on the right track.

“So these are kids that obviously have histories of, again, trauma,” Lin explained. “There might be depression, anxiety, a lot of acting out behaviors, as you would imagine. So our job here is to really try our best to nurture them, get them to a homelike setting. You know, we don’t want kids in institutions.”

But funding for programs like this could be cut considerably as Gov. Gavin Newsom unveils a revised budget proposal that looks to close a $28 million dollar deficit for 2024 to 2025.

As a result, Sycamores’ Chief Public Policy and Advocacy Officer Wendy Wang says the state has proposed a new rate structure for foster care that would drastically change the way nonprofit organizations operate their programs.

“In the worst case, we would close our 16 bed operational capacity and have to rethink about the layout of the campus and what other programing could be here,” Wang explained.

It’s extremely concerning, she says. If this proposal moves forward as is, it could mean more than $3,000 less for each youth cared for here, each month.

Without these services, staff say the results could be devastating for teens like Andrew, who has made significant strides in his time here.

“I like them,” Andrew says about the staff. “They’re nice.”

Gov. Newsom’s office says this revised budget proposal closes both this year’s remaining $27.6 billion dollar shortfall and next year’s deficit while preserving many key services—including education, housing, health care and food assistance.