"Eleven years ago, we saw how children with empty bellies were not learning, and we put all our community resources to work to see how we could prevent that from happening. That is how the annual ‘Conditions of Children Report Card’ came about — because we needed to know where we were at to know how far we needed to go." Those were the words of Kern County Network for Children (KCNC) Director Tom Corson at an April 14 news conference unveiling the "2009 Conditions of Children Report Card." Held outside the Dream Center & Coffee House in Bakersfield, it was an appropriate place for such an event to take place. Since KCNC, a part of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office, took over Foster Youth Services, the county has seen a decline in the number of children entering foster care and a rise in the number being reunited with their immediate families. The Dream Center was KCNC’s idea to provide emancipated foster youth with a place where they could earn money, find resources to help them transition into adulthood without foster care and network with their peers. More