When Michael Williams became Oklahoma’s director of child welfare last summer, there was one thing he wanted to do first — establish a youth advisory board.
“Coming to Oklahoma after having decades of experience in other states, that was one thing that was missing that I immediately said we need to have,” he said.
A youth advisory board provides a formal pathway for young people who are or have been in foster care to engage in advocacy and shape policy through sharing their lived experience. Williams said he’s seen youth advisory boards succeed across the country.
“It has changed the nature of the service that children in foster care are receiving to make sure it's more holistic and appropriate for their success and well-being. The second thing it's done is change the narrative of what it means to be a child in foster care,” he said.
Nieva Whitney was once a child in Oklahoma foster care — now, she’s a leader of Oklahoma’s first youth advisory board, which launched in March.
One improvement for foster care she has mentioned in meetings of the youth advisory board is the ability for youth to meet with potential foster placements outside of their home before being placed with them.
“When you go to a new home, you don't know these people. You don't know if you're safe. You don't — like, you're still carrying everything in a suitcase wondering if you can unpack or if you're gonna be moving the next day,” she said. “Meeting with your placement before you get there, maybe that could be a luncheon or something of that nature — I feel like that is a big change that's needed.”
Another youth advisory board leader, Annemarie Corbin, was in tribal custody. She advocates for cultural awareness in child welfare.
“They're supposed to put you in a home where you're connected to your tribe or a different native home,” she said. “But even though you're put in that home, you're not always connected with those resources or connections to your specific tribe because each tribe has different traditions.”
Williams said young people who have gone through foster care have the most impactful information when it comes to improving the system.
“We can't just have a one-time conversation. It has to be a recurring, continuous conversation,” he said.
These conversations have already led to tangible results for Oklahoma’s youth.
Lindsay Crim, a legislative liaison for Oklahoma Child Welfare, said the youth advisory board gave its input on extended foster care in Oklahoma, which was passed this legislative session through Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton’s Senate Bill 1806.
“They don't want to be associated with DHS and foster care. No 18-year-old wants to be, if they were part of the system, part of any kind of DHS and still be in foster care at the age of 18,” she said.
As such, the state’s new extended foster care program for young people through age 21 will be called Pathways to Launch.
Crim said the program will help young people transition into adulthood by connecting them with caseworkers.
“They're going be able to help with housing, financial stability, help expand that social network of more adults, healthy relationships, a transition plan to enter into adulthood, employment, improve life skills, financial support, anything else that they would need,” she said.
The Oklahoma legislature approved $5 million for the first year of the program, which will begin on July 1.
Young people ages 18-21 who have been in foster care will be eligible for Pathways to Launch if they are completing secondary education, enrolled in a higher education or career technology program or working at least 80 hours a month. Youth unable to participate in those activities for a documented medical condition will also be eligible.
Beyond influencing policy change, Corbin said she wants to be a role model for kids in foster care.
“Now that I can advocate for myself as an adult, I would really love to be that role model for younger kids to be like, yes, this is something I can do now because I see them doing it and I see similarities in our stories,” she said.
The youth advisory board meets every other month and is growing — young people ages 16 to 23 who are or have been in foster care are invited to join by reaching out to the Oklahoma Successful Adulthood Program.
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