Explore the supportive relationship between a youth and her attorney.

Reveals how advocating for youth makes a difference in system change and in the advocates’ own lives. The Director of Policy and Advocacy at NMCAN and a youth advocate talk about their shared experience in testifying as expert witnesses for state legislative committees and how it created a strong bond between them.

Explore strategies to engage individuals with lived experience as advisors for groups, committees, boards, and more. 

Learn strategies for accurately and safely collecting data on LGBTQIA2S+ youth and young adults.

Learn how to engage young people and families with lived expertise in the CFSR process at a child welfare agency. 

Discover strategies for co-creating and sharing power with youth and families in child welfare.

Learn about the values of cultural competence, cultural humility, and cultural safety, and how to implement them at a child welfare agency.  

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.

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.

Explore strategies for engaging and empowering fathers of color in child welfare. 

Discover services and resources aimed at the needs of expecting and parenting teens in child welfare. 

Learn about the challenges of engaging difficult-to-reach populations of youth and young adults. 

Learn how to effectively present data in digestible and actionable ways that lead to real change.

Explore the process of transitioning to a prevention-focused child welfare system from several perspectives, including those of a mother and son with lived experience and leaders who set the tone and direction for putting families at the center of child welfare work.

Hear about strategies for authentically partnering with youth, young adults, Tribes, families, and communities of color to inform and improve child welfare research, practice, and policy.