Empowering the

Voices of Foster Youth

2015 Ohio CASA Conference

• We exist to be the knowledgeable statewide voice that influences policies and practices that effect all youth who have or will experience out of home care.

OHIO YAB Mission

Transition to Young Adulthood fora young person growing up with their biological family

Challenges faced by a young personwho “ages out” of foster care

Today’s youth need

a bridge to the future

and guidance along the path

Traits We Look For in Adults

Permanency Pact:

What exactly can I rely on you for?

It is critical to the youth’s success to identify those adults who will continue to provide various supports through and beyond the transition from care.

Clarifying exactly what the various supports will include can help to avoid gaps in the youth’s safety net and misunderstandings between the youth and the supportive adult(s).

• A home for the holidays• A place to do laundry• An emergency place to stay• Care packages while in college• Storage• Someone to discuss problems with• A phone or computer to use

Copyright Lisa Dickson

Circle of Support:

• Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard• Participation in Age-Appropriate Activities• Including Group Homes and Residential Placements

Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families ActPL 113-183

Sec. 111. Supporting normalcy for children in foster care

• This law focuses on the child welfare goal of well-being, after years of restrictive policies that put safety over well-being

• Defines “age-appropriate” as activities that are generally accepted as suitable for children of the same chronological age or level of maturity.

• States that children in out of home care are entitled to participate in age-appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities.

• Lists what the caregiver is to consider when determining if the activity is “age appropriate.”

Ohio Revised Code (HB 213)

Is the foster care placement the right fit for the child?

Extra-curricular activities

Normalcy Preparation for Adulthood

Lack of normalcy hurts well-being

• Specific options on housing, health insurance, education, local opportunities for mentors and continuing support services, and work force supports and employment”

Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008

Title II, Section 202

• Ninety days prior to the youth’s emancipation from the agency’s custody, the PCSA or PCPA shall work with the youth to develop a final transition plan.

• The plan shall be youth-driven and as detailed as the youth chooses.

Ohio Administrative Code

Essential Elements:

Name that logo

The Foster Youth Advocacy Center provides free legal help to current and former foster youth in Central Ohio, ages 16-25.

This team of lawyers and law students can assist with:

• Attaining an original birth certificate• Attaining an original social security card• Attaining a current state identification card• Understanding legal documents• Sealing or deleting criminal records• Getting healthcare, public benefits, housing or insurance

Collective voices of current and former foster care youth