Highlights the advocacy work of state and regional youth leadership councils. Two paid regional and state youth specialists and the Texas Director for Transitional Living Services describe how including youth voice by providing them a “seat at the table” at the state capital enhances the child welfare system. All three discuss the rewards and personal impact of their work.

Underscores the importance of consistency and encouragement in trusting relationships. A Fostering Success peer mentor gave impactful advice to the youth she mentored: Stop listening to the people who don’t believe in you.

Tells the story of the relationship between a youth in foster care and a BraveLife peer navigator. Both talk about the personal sharing and mutual trust that have forged a connection that will last a lifetime.

Demonstrates how showing up and listening are foundational to developing a nourishing relationship with youth. A young woman describes the constant support she and her family received from a social worker as she evolved from a youth into a teen mom and an advocate.

Tells the story of the relationship, initially forged over a shared meal, between a youth and her CASA worker. The CASA worker’s advocacy for concrete supports to meet the youth’s needs helped grow the trust in their relationship.

See how listening and relatability helped build trust between a youth and his attorney.

Explore the supportive relationship between a youth and her attorney.

Illustrates the four thematic pillars necessary for organizational capacity supporting engagement with young people currently and formerly in foster care. Each of the four segments succinctly defines an element of organizational capacity building for youth engagement.

Explore actions that can lead to building authentic, collaborative, and prevention-focused child welfare systems.

Explore a family-focused program that embodies many of the changes that Kentucky wants to see throughout its child welfare system in this podcast. The START, program demonstrates a shift in organizational culture to focus on family and serves as an example of a truly collaborative team that uses early intervention and a shared decision-making model to work with families.

Explore the efforts agencies, community collaborative organizations, and others are making to bring families, youth, and communities to the table as they strive to improve the child welfare system in this podcast. 

Learn how to build capacity in each of four component areas to promote a culture and climate that encourages youth engagement at all levels of an organization.

Explore coaching steps and tips supervisors can use to help workers strengthen skills and meet goals.

Learn how supervisors and program managers can assist child welfare caseworkers in conducting quality visits with parents.

Examine a five-step framework that helps organizations promote youth engagement in normalcy conversations about the youth’s own care.