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Youth Voice

Resources

  • Youth Voice
    This document, prepared for the Region VIII Youth Permanency Initiative sponsored by AdoptUsKids and the NRCFCPPP, provides a brief description of what "youth voice" means.

  • Introduction to Youth Voice
    From the FreeChild Project.

  • Involving Youth in Planning for Their Education, Treatment and Services: Research Tells Us We Should Be Doing Better
    This document from the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health at Portland State University summarizes available research indicating that involving youth meaningfully and successfully in planning for their own future is possible and provides benefits for youth and their families.

  • Handbooks for Youth in Foster Care
    Youth in foster care are becoming increasingly aware of their own potential to effect change for themselves personally and within the system. One avenue that allows them to learn more about their own rights and responsibilities, and that can lead to empowerment for them, is the use of handbooks written for and about young people in care. This page links to handbooks from several states.

  • Influencing Public Policy in Your State: A Guide for Youth in Care
    This guidebook from Maine Youth Leadership Advisory Team helps young people who are in custody (through foster care or juvenile justice) gain the skills and confidence they need to testify at hearings or meet with public officials.

  • Participatory Evaluation with Young People
    The Program for Youth and Community from the University of Michigan School of Social Work has produced a workbook and a facilitator’s guide to participatory evaluation with young people. Want to assess your skills in partnering with young people? Try the checklist on page 22 of the facilitator’s guide! Then use these resources to help you engage with young people.

  • Partnering with Youth: Involving Youth in Child Welfare Training and Curriculum Development
    This monograph was written to serve as a starting point for agencies interested in involving youth in the development of child welfare curriculum and staff development projects.

  • Best Practices for Increasing Meaningful Youth Participation in Collaborative Team Planning
    Achieve My Plan is a five-year project that is developing and testing ways to increase the meaningful participation of youth in collaborative team planning meetings. This document shares some of was learned about how to create plans with youth, so that youth will see the plans as a means to help them move towards important life goals. These best practices are based on a combination of research findings and input from AMP advisors and other youth and adults who are part of planning teams around the nation.

  • A Response A Response to No One Ever Asked Us: A Review of Children's Experiences in Out-of-Home Care
    This review in the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal provides an overview of almost two dozen studies examining children's experiences of care. Findings from studies involving interviews with current and former foster youth are reviewed in relation to four child welfare goals: (1) protecting children from harm; (2) fostering children's well-being; (3) supporting children's families; and (4) promoting permanence. Implications for improved child welfare practice are offered.

  • Booklets on Successful Youth/Adult Relationships
    Youth On Board is offering these downloadable booklets on youth engagement and involvement, as well as an organizational assessment checklist to help you assess your organization's progress toward youth involvement and pinpoint areas where you may need help.

  • Children's Views and Experiences of Parenting
    The focus of this review from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation is on research with children rather than research about children. Based on an examination of the literature and other documentation, consultations with experts in the field and two focus groups with young people, it explores children's accounts of parenting where 'added value' is gained from including young perspectives. It draws out some of the main conclusions from this evidence, identifies unexplored or underdeveloped research questions, and makes observations on research with young people.

  • Collecting Data from Preteens
    If you work with preteens – whether in community, school, health care, or other settings – you probably have needed to ask them questions about their feelings, behaviors, health habits, or other issues at some point. But what's the best way to get good information from this age group? The Preteen Alliance set out to answer that question by commissioning Education Training Research (ETR) to review eight common methods used to collect data from children ages 9 to 13, including surveys (computer-based, PDAs, paper and pencil), diaries, interviews (phone, in person, focus groups), and observational methods. The full report, including briefs on each data collection method and a synopsis of existing local surveys, is available here.

  • A Self-Assessment Quiz
    Use this short self-assessment tool from the Research & Training Center at Portland State University to find out whether your organization is supporting meaningful youth participation in collaborative team planning.


Resources from the States

  • Arizona: Getting From Here to There: A Guide to The Dependency Court For Children and Youth in Foster Care
    This guidebook from the Children's Action Alliance in Arizona is intended for youth in foster care and has been reviewed by youth in foster care. This publication helps youth have a say in their own lives.

  • Georgia: EmpowerMEnt: Hearing the "Me" in the Voices of Georgia's Foster Youth
    This publication presents recommendations for improving foster care services for adolescents that were developed by more than 300 current and former foster youth in Georgia.

  • Maine: Thrive: Youth Section
    This Maine systems of care initiative proposes that the process of moving from youth guided, to youth directed, to youth driven happens at 3 levels: youth involvement at the individual youth level, the community and policy making level. This list illustrates what should be happening at each stage in the process as the young person makes their transition into adulthood.

  • Michigan: Fifteen Statements From the Youth Board
    As part of a grant from the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, 13 youth boards were formed around Michigan, comprised of and led by youth in foster care or alumni of foster care. At the invitation of DHS, the youth boards sent delegates to Lansing to begin work as a Youth Policy Board. At their first policy meeting, youth decided on priority issues to raise to the Department of Human Services and the Legislature.

  • Missouri: Policy and Procedures Handbook of the Missouri State Youth Advisory Board
    The mission of the SYAB is to empower Out-of-Home youth to provide input into the policies and procedures for Out-of-Home Care; to provide meaningful leadership training and experiences for board members; and to empower board members who, in turn, can empower children and youth who have experienced Out-of-Home Care.

  • New Mexico: Maximizing the Involvement of Young People
    This bulletin outlines best practices and describes the roles of caseworkers, judges, attorneys, court staff, and CASA volunteers.

  • New York State Regional Youth Voice Forums: An Exercise in Positive Youth Development
    The Office of Children and Family Services held a series of six Youth Voice Forums in 2002. Approximately 100 youth and adult participants attended each forum. Youth aged 14 to 20 outlined concerns, brainstormed ideas and solutions, and developed personal action plans to undertake.

  • Washington: Youth Voice Handbook
    This introductory guide to Youth Voice shares what, why, who, when, where, and how Youth Voice happens throughout communities. Highlighting examples and lessons from across Washington State, CommonAction provides insights and ideas for young people, youth workers, teachers, and anyone else interested in truly empowering youth to make a difference. Included is a tool that can help you know how Youth Voice is doing in your program, class, organization, or community. This evaluation of Youth Voice can be conducted by young people and/or adults.

  • Washington: Reinstatement of Terminated Parental Rights
    This legislation, signed into law in May 2007, allows adolescents who meet certain requirements to petition the court to have their parents' rights reinstated. This gives young people who have not achieved permanency through the child welfare system a voice in their lives. Listen to a story about a 15-year-old boy who is the first to ask for reinstatement of parental rights on National Public Radio


State Websites

  • California: Foster Youth Help
    This site is a product of the California Foster Care Ombudsman Office, whose mandates include ensuring that the voice of foster children and youth is heard, and acting on their behalf. The main topics address the rights, responsibilities, entitlements, and resources available to youth in care and those on the verge of aging out.

  • California: Bust N Out
    This Website was designed to act as an information resource for all youth, youth in foster care and emancipated youth in Butte, Glenn, Colusa, Shasta, Tehama, Lassen, Plumas, Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, Trinity, Lake, Sutter, and Yuba counties so that they can obtain important information regarding many of lifestyle changes they will face once on their own.

  • California: California Youth Connection
    The California Youth Connection is guided, focused and driven by current and former foster youth with the assistance of other committed community members. California Youth Connection promotes the participation of foster youth in policy development and legislative change to improve the foster care system. California Youth Connection strives to improve social work practice and child welfare policy.

  • Iowa: Collaboration for Youth Development
    This state-led interagency initiative is designed to better align policies and programs and to encourage collaboration among multiple state and community agencies on youth-related issues. The goals of the initiative are to promote the use of positive youth development principles in state policies and programs and to facilitate the use of effective youth development practices in communities throughout Iowa.

  • Iowa: Elevate
    Elevate, a program of Children & Families of Iowa, is a group of young people who seek to inspire others to new levels of understanding & compassion to the life connection needs of foster care & adoptive teens by sharing their personal stories of hope. It is a youth-led, statewide coalition of seven regional chapters, each serving communities in ways that are as individual as the teens served there.

  • Maine: Youth Leadership Advisory Team
    YLAT is a team of Maine youth in care (in state custody), ages 14-21, engaged in the education of the government, general public, caregivers, and peers regarding the needs of children and young adults in the child welfare system. Advocating for positive changes in the child welfare system, YLAT members help develop, guide, and revise the Bureau of Child and Family Services policies in order to create safety, comfort, and opportunities for all kids in care.

  • Michigan Foster Youth in Transition
    This Web site was the result of a recommendation made by the Statewide Task Force on Youth Transitioning from Foster Care in 2006. It provides links on how to develop supports, find services, get answers to important questions and just keep you posted on what's new. The Web site will be updated by members of Michigan's Youth Boards from locations across the state.

  • New York City Youth Summit: Engaging Youth in Family Court Proceedings
    The Fordham Interdisciplinary Center for Family and Child Advocacy hosted a Youth Summit in May 2006. The Youth Summit brought together current and former foster youth; child welfare professionals; judges, lawyers, and other court personnel; parent advocates; and community leaders. The participants addressed the importance of ensuring that youth are present in Family Court; identified the current barriers to youth participation; and engaged in creative problem solving to make progress in this area. This report reflects the work of that day.

  • New York State: Youth in Progress
    The mission of the Youth In Progress is to enhance and advance the lives of today's and tomorrow's foster care youth by giving them a sense of self responsibility. To do this, YIP pledges to educate everyone involved in the foster care system to the realities of this experience. We will accomplish this mission by listening to youth in care and by offering them guidance that will allow them to achieve success in their lives and to realize their full potential.

  • North Carolina: SaySo - Strong Able Youth Speaking Out
    SaySo, which will celebrate its 10th birthday in March 2008, is dedicated to improving the substitute care system, speaking out about needed changes, and supporting youth who are or have been in foster care in North Carolina. SaySo is supported by NC Chaffee funds and private donations. SaySo members have been identified as national award winners by NILA for three consecutive years and frequently facilitate workshops nationally and as well as North Carolina.

  • Ohio: Overcoming Hurdles in Ohio Youth Advisory Board (OHIO YAB)
    This is a statewide organization of young people (aged 14-23) who have experienced foster care. This group has been organizing since July 2006, when they requested help organizing and making their recommendations, created during the 2006 My Voice, My Life, My Future Project, a reality. On February 1, 2007, the youth held a statewide meeting to develop and adopt a name, mission, and official bylaws, as well as elect statewide officers and set goals for 2007.

  • Tennessee Youth Advisory Council
    The TYCC is a group of current and former foster youth from Nashville and the surrounding counties that work to improve the lives of youth and the foster care system. They decided that current and former foster youth needed a website that they could visit to find information about services, resources, and supports in order to navigate the foster care system.

  • Texas Youth Connection
    This project of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services containing resources on hotlines, education, finances, records, diversity, health, contacts, job links, food, housing, art, books and stories.

  • Utah: Just for Youth
    One section of this website is especially for youth in foster care and alumni, offering facts, resources, and places to contact for more information.


Teleconferences

  • Engaging Youth in the CFSR and Program Improvements
    Download handouts and MP3 audio of this June 14 teleconference sponsored by the National Child Welfare Resource Centers for Youth Development and Organizational Improvement. Representatives from the NRC’s draw on their experience to discuss promising approaches to engaging youth and highlight a set of tools and resources that are now available or are being developed to help agencies engage youth in leadership activities, and particularly in the CFSR process. A young person shares his perspective on steps agencies can take to effectively involve youth in analyzing and improving child welfare programs.


Youth Stories in Their Own Voices

  • Video

    • Digital Stories from Preparation for Adulthood - Supervising for Success
      These digital stories were created to enhance the quality of supervisory learning circles in a project project designed to develop, implement, evaluate and disseminate a training curriculum for public child welfare supervisors. They incorporate the voices of young people, child welfare workers and supervisors to highlight critical practice issues. The stories are told from personal points of view and reflect issues of permanency and preparation for adulthood services, supports and opportunities.

    • Digital Stories From Current and Former Foster Youth
      Stories created at a workshop sponsored by the Hunter College School of Social Work.

    • Telling It Like It Is: Foster Youth and Their Struggle for Permanency
      Excerpts from the stories of ten former foster youth, from California Permanency for Youth Project. A DVD containing all ten stories can be ordered for free.

    • Would You Open a Door for Me?
      This video from Florida's Connected by 25 initiative presents the voices of alumni speaking about their experiences.

    • Breaking the Silence
      Ten short digital stories by LGBTQ former foster youth are powerful tales of both the successes and failures of the foster care system. Through these youths' words and images we hear directly about their experiences in state care, as well as their recommendations for better supporting LGBTQ youth in the future. Order a free DVD.

    • My Story Project
      This project, created by the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, features video of former foster youth sharing their experiences and emphasizing the types of system reforms that can make a difference for the children and young people in foster care today.

    • Youth Participation in Planning: Why it Matters
      In their own words and with stories from their own lives, youth describe what it feels like not to have any say in the plans that are made for their treatment, care, education and future. This video was conceived and created by youth, caregivers, and providers in collaboration with staff from the Research & Treatment Center at Portland State University.

  • Audio

  • Print

    • Permanent Solutions: Seeking Family Stability for Youth in Foster Care
      Want to know how young people in the system think about "permanency?" Check pages 73-85 of this report from Children's Rights to hear young adults talk about their understanding of the meaning of permanency, planning for permanency, supports and barriers they encountered, and their specific recommendations for making things better for young people in foster care.

    • Youth Perspectives on Permanency
      This report from California Youth Connection and the California Youth Permanency Project summarizes what current and former foster youth in California had to say on the subject of permanency and lifelong connections.

    • Represent
      Represent is the new name of a teen-written magazine formerly knows as Stories from Foster Care Youth United. Read a sample of recent stories online.

    • My Voice, My Life, My Future
      This collection of art and writings by young people in foster care This project was assembled by Home At Last and the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles in conjunction with the Foster Care Awareness Month in May, 2006.

    • Surviving on Our Own: The Independent Living Survey Project Final Report
      This report from Cornell University's Family Life Development Center details findings from an innovative study that engaged a group of formerly homeless youth to study the scope and nature of youth homelessness in an upstate New York county. The Independent Living Survey was completed by 165 youth ages 15-24 who are "on their own". The findings reveal unrelenting self sufficiency and efforts for a better life while being exposed to and immersed in a culture of unhealthy and dangerous behaviors. This report offers the voices of victimized, transient and vulnerable youth and creates awareness and hope for continued support, dialogue and change.


Websites

  • Achieve My Plan
    The central goal of this project from Research & Training Center at Portland State University is to develop and evaluate a cost-effective intervention to increase partnership that can be used across a variety of individualized planning contexts, including system of care, IEP, and transition from out-of-community placements.

  • FYI3.com
    Foster Youth Involved, Informed and Independent provides foster youth between ages 14 and 23 opportunities to become involved, informed and independent in their transitioning journey towards adulthood. Created by FosterClub and funded by Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.

  • Youth Engagement and Youth Voice
    This website provides links to a number of resources dealing with youth voice.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
Last updated 04/14/08

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