On March 19, the United States Children’s Bureau and Think of Us hosted a Virtual Town Hall for Older Foster Youth.
In this Town Hall, Dr. Jerry Milner addressed how coronavirus is impacting older foster youth and answered questions from states. Dr. Milner made it clear that he sees youth, hears youth, and is working with states to ensure that critical youth needs are getting met.
For those who were not able to join the Town Hall live, or for those who want to hear it again, here is the link to watch the recording of the March 19th Virtual Town Hall for Older Foster Youth.
These are the key takeaways from Dr. Milner:
• Youth First: Youth are front-and-center to the response during this time. Dr. Milner wants to know what issues are impacting youth.
• Beyond Compliance: If compliance is preventing staff from serving youth who need immediate help, Dr. Milner wants to know so we can break through red tape and provide services.
• Community-driven Solutions: Our local communities and states are best equipped to identify emerging issues and potential solutions. Overcoming the challenges we face will take collective effort, and we need youth and staff at all levels--local, state, and federal--to work together to address emerging issues.
Here are important links to resources that were mentioned in the Town Hall:
• College Closure: Dr. Jerry Milner Associate Commissioner, Children's Bureau
• Top 10 Issues for Foster Youth
• Town Hall Video
Again, here is the link to listen to the recording of the March 19th Virtual Town Hall for Older Foster Youth.
Because of the overwhelming interest by youth in the Town Hall last week, Dr. Milner and Think of Us are exploring ways to host a similar virtual event, prioritizing questions that are coming directly from older foster youth across the country.
What comes next?
Think of Us is launching the COVID-19 Foster Care Command Center on Wednesday 3pm EST March 25, 2020: This virtual command center, staffed by former foster youth and other subject matter experts, will collect and track emergent youth needs as reported by youth, direct service providers, and state/local agencies.
The Command Center will:
• Provide a library of actionable resources, like template waiver requests that foster youth can simply copy and paste to petition to stay in their college dorms, approved policy language, detailed guides, and connections to resources like online foster parent training.
• Provide youth and others the ability to submit their recommendation, stories and needs to the federal government to assist the Children’s Bureau in important decision making.
• Collect obstacles and challenges from states and supporting child welfare agencies, and share resources on how other jurisdictions are approaching or finding solutions to those problems.
Think of Us
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The Pennsylvania Youth Advisory Board is part of the Independent Living Project sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh: School of Social Work. |      |