Friday, February 23, 2024

Buckeye Ranch Brainstorming Meeting

On Friday, February 23, 2024, OHIO YAB Youth Ambassador Karimah Addison Bolding came to Buckeye Ranch in person to discuss ways that community members can support current and former foster youth. She was supported by foster care alumni Lisa Dickson and Ruth-Ann Jones-Thompson. 

During the meeting, we shared a menu of ways that community members can help improve outcomes for the foster care population, which was created previously by members of the OHIO YAB.

Karimah shared a powerful and insightful quote: "The system isn't broken; it's just disconnected."

Future connections that could be made and opportunities that could be pursued include:

1.) Mentoring:

  • In Cleveland, they have transformed the Open Table approach into a Community of Hope to support current and former foster youth.

  • In Cincinnati, there was a previous Higher Education Mentoring Initiative (HEMI) that drastically improved outcomes for foster youth participants. The program started in ninth grade, lasted throughout post-secondary education and mentors received ongoing trainings. Hamilton County foster care youth and alumni were deeply saddened by the sunsetting of this program. 


2.) Sibling Outings: 
  • A Camp to Belong is one of the only programs in the United States designed specifically to address the relational needs of siblings who are separated by foster care. Sadly, they do not yet have a camp here in Ohio. 
  • The OHIO YAB and ACTION Ohio hosted our 2023 Self Care Summit for Current and Former Foster Youth at the Hope Valley Retreat Center in Newark. This might be a great site to pilot a future sibling connections retreat. 
3.) Workforce Connections:
  • CCMEP stands for Comprehensive Case Management and Employment Program. Each county has a designated lead agency responsible for managing CCMEP. Sadly, current and former foster youth don't always know which agency is facilitating the program in their area. 









Monday, February 19, 2024

2024 Virtual Focus Group About the Bridges Program

On Sunday, February 18, 2024, OHIO YAB members were invited to participate in a virtual focus group regarding the 2024 Mission, Vision and Goals of the Bridges program. Participants included Lyric, Celebritty, Antonio and Brooke. 

Participants shared insights regarding how the Bridges program can:

  • Empower young adults (emancipated foster youth) by supporting their journey to independence through individualized services and opportunities, inspiring their lifelong success. 
  • Increase participation, enrollment and length of stay in the program. 
  • Support and prepare participants to achieve success in adulthood. 
  • Strengthen the Bridges workforce.
Insights shared by participating young adults:

1.) Appreciation for Bridges: One participant shared how her Bridges worker helped her with budgeting, real world advice and preparation for adulthood. She shared what it felt like to be emancipated at age 18: "I thought I could live on my own, but I was homeless within three months of emancipating. Bridges gave me motivation and tools."

2.) Importance of IL skills during Bridges participation: "I didn't learn the proper skills in independent living classes and wasn't able to implement them as a teen. Could there be life skills classes for young adults enrolled in the Bridges program?”

3.) Impact of being placed out of county: One participant shared what it was like to be the custody of one county, but placed in another county, several hours away. The distance made an impact. The 'warm hand off' wasn’t warm: “I felt like they just pushed me off onto a Bridges worker.”

One day, the young person was living in a group home – one that had promised to continue to care for her after she turned 18 years old. On the day of her birthday, she was told she needed to leave. She felt blindsighted: "My group home said: We don't drop our kids. But they dropped me the day after my birthday. They just kind of gave me the boot. They promised to be there, but there weren't. As a young adult, you are trying to move on - but you feel like a little girl, like the system has failed you."

Her home county was able to identify a local apartment for her to move into; but it was three hours away from the group home she had just left. 

 4.) Impact of trauma: Former foster youth experience trauma at a rate twice that of war veterans. During time in foster care, moving from place to place, the focus is on immediate survival. But when young adults move out on their own, trauma can resurface, in the form of flashbacks, nightmares, etc. 

Quote: “I had experienced losses in my personal life. I was unable to get out of bed. This led to me being disconnected to my college program and being kicked out of the Bridges program. I was trying to explain to my Bridges worker that I am literally grieving my old life. Even though the system put me though hell, when I was in foster care, I knew I could call someone from the county to fall back on."

5.) Needing a personal approach: More personal questions for the youth; not just perfunctory. Young adults don’t automatically trust their new Bridges worker, and it is often a personal loss when the prior relationship they had with their caseworker is severed. Quote: “I’m more a person who wants people to come to me. It would have helped if my new Bridges worker had checked in. I didn’t know her well enough to share my struggles. I received texts from her saying that we needed to sign papers, but her texts didn’t include a personal touch.”

 6.) Recommending proactive communication: Quote: “My previous independent living worker reached out to me to let me know that Bridges was ending my case. My Bridges worker told her that there was a lack of communication on my part – but she did not communicate that to me personally. How can I fix it if you don’t tell me?”  The young person was able to communicate her disappointment to her Bridges worker, who apologized and said she would try to her best to help the young person re-enter the program.  

7.) Unsure what to do if disconnected from Bridges: Quote: “If our Bridges is terminated, who do we reach out to?  I wasn’t sure if could reach out to my home county.”  Young adult participants mentioned that knowing about the mental health exemption would be helpful to know; how to get a disability waiver to maintain eligibility.

8.) Lack of information about the Bridges program: Participating youth talked about the need for a better understanding of the difference between having an emancipated youth case with their county vs. Bridges. One youth shared: “I wasn’t sure exactly what the Bridges program would do. I heard that they would help pay your rent.”  

Another young adult shared: “I never really understood what Bridges is for. Is it an alternative to independent living?  The age range wasn’t clear. They talked about it in terms of how disperse funds. They said that if you miss one month, you are kicked out of the program. They told me: ‘You’re better off with post-emancipation.’”

9.) What youth need and want the most from their Bridges worker: “Proactive communication and proactive reassurance would help. Knowing about resource options would help. Better understanding of the Bridges program would help. If Bridges doesn’t work out – what will happen to me? What do you tell kids who don’t know anything? Being reassured that they have your back.”

10.) Young and/or inexperienced Bridges workers: 
One of the focus group participants shared that, when she was in the Bridges program, her Bridges worker was still in college, had recently stopped living in her mother's house and was still learning to do things on her own. Another young adult who wasn't able to participate in the focus group texted that her Bridges worker was so young that she treated her more like a peer. 

Young Adult Recommendations:

1.) Start working with youth six months before emancipation. Tell them the difference between Bridges and county post-emancipation services. Have a chart that maps this out clearly, so that they can make an informed decision. Make sure the young person knows about available resources and how to access them. 

2.) Bridges workers should be willing to transport young adults to opportunities. Could this be added to the contract?  The current excuse is that this is not a contract requirement. Throughout the state of Ohio, Bridges workers are not transporting youth to OHIO YAB statewide quarterly meetings, early Thanksgiving Together events or statewide conferences such as Self Care Summits for current and former foster youth. OHIO YAB members have shared that active participation has developed their voice, courage and confidence. They don't want to miss out on in-person opportunities for peer support and sharing their insights due to Bridges lack of willingness to transport. 

3.) Prioritizing relationship-building over paperwork: Workers can get caught up with getting administrative stuff done and lose track of the purpose of why they are there. This is not just about getting papers signed. This is human, purposeful stuff. Engagement. Building trust. For emancipating foster youth, they often don't have a lot of trust in the system. 

4.) Reassuring young adults who are new to Bridges: Lyric suggested that the OHIO YAB could partner with Bridges to design a “We Matter” card, as a note of reassurance for young adults who enter Bridges. Quote: “That would have meant a lot to me; seeing and hearing from fellow foster care youth and alumni.”

5.) Areas of impact to improve outcomes:

a.) Brooke mentioned that: “A lot of areas could have used support, primarily help with financial literacy. Actually sitting down with an advisor, someone you can trust would have been really beneficial to learn about financial planning. They didn’t teach me how to pay the bills on time; I had to learn that on my own. They didn’t teach me how, when life takes a turn, how to be resourceful when things like that happen. Also, housing afterward would have been beneficial. They were trying to get me to apply for Section 8, but it seemed like they didn’t have a process or a contact. I would have just been applying like anyone else.

b.) Antonio shared: “If a person doesn’t have a family support system, they need financial literacy. They need life skills, to help them learn how to cook, clean, pay rent, budget, save and buy groceries efficiently. There is a lot of education that goes into it.”

c.) Antonio also mentioned that Foster Youth Driving Act, and how he wasn't able to get a license during his time in foster care because he was a ward of the state. He has a license now, but still doesn't have a car. Lisa mentioned that it can be difficult to get someone to teach you how to drive as a young adult. 

d.) In terms of improving higher educational outcomes, Antonio recommended that the Bridges program learn from the Higher Education Mentoring Initiative (HEMI) program, which was excellent, but was discontinued. Quote: Bridges could take inspiration from elements that they had in the HEMI program, such as informing youth about grants, FAFSA, assistance with books, transportation, and tuition itself.

6.) The OHIO YAB can assist with trainings for Bridges workers: OHIO YAB Youth Ambassador Jewel Harris is an approved OCTWP trainer for an Emotional Resiliency workshop that would be beneficial. During the 2024 Leadership and Life Skills Summit, Bridges workers who transport young adults will be able to receive CEUs for attending a workshop on communication and de-escalating power struggles. 

7.) Bridges participant meet and greets: Focus group participants suggested that Bridges have activities where young adults and Bridges workers interact in an informal way. This could help with relationship-building, and underscore that this is not just a job. 

 8.) Youth suggestions to improve Bridges focus group participation: Celebritty suggested: You could have it like a roundtable. And ask the young adults: What life challenges are you facing as you transition into young adulthood?  Like being a partner after foster care. That's hard. Having your first child, being a new mom with bottles to make and bills to pay -- how do you groove about those things? 

 9.) Concrete tools to build up a young adult's personal support group: 
  • This could include having Bridges workers consistently utilize the Permanency Pact form as a tool for identifying supportive connections.
  • During the focus group, Bill Dawson asked, “The idea behind Bridges is to set young adults up for success after they leave the program, and to build up the young adult’s informal support group. Did this happen for you?”
  • One participant answered: No, that was never a part of it. Bridges taught me how to be self-sufficient. I left foster care and went to Bridges. I had two workers, but they only taught me how to take care of myself. I continue to have a lack of supportive connections - and that's a struggle, especially as a young mom.
10.) Stressing the importance of reassurance and timely communication:
  • Quote: We are not the mail. You shouldn’t have to wait 3-5 business days for them to get back with you. You are all that we have. Some of our families are toxic. Some of us have no family. My family is very inconsistent; I would rather have their complete absence than inconsistency. Me as a hurting kid, coming from a hurting path, I want someone interacting with me.

  • Quote: “The communication piece is something that I would love to see happen. We have experienced trauma, and we often have a wall up. We need someone to turn to for reassurance, resources and support. People always say to call them - but who is actually going to be there?”
Questions from participating young adults:
  • How long does it take it take for a young adult to be dropped from the Bridges program?
  • How long of a grace period do participating young adults receive?
  • If young adults only just turned 18 and they are struggling during the first three months, rather than dropping them from the program, could Bridges help the youth figure out options?
Quote: You guys were quick to drop me even though you knew I only just turned 18. I relied on you guys for so long, if I don’t gain a better support system, where do I go?  That had an impact on me, recognizing that you were just going to drop me like that with no support. They can just drop you. It makes me cautious of reaching out now. It makes me wonder: Who will I turn to?  Am I just another case to you?

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Virtual presentation for Ohio's new Department for Children and Youth

On Friday, February 16, 2024, OHIO YAB Youth Ambassadors participated in a virtual meeting with representatives of Ohio's new Department for Children and Youth. 

Participants included:

  • Denielle Ell-Rittinger, Bureau Chief Children Services Policy Supports
  • Laurie Valentine, Section Chief Independent Living and Transitional Aged Youth
  • Monica Kress, Assistant Bureau Chief Foster Care Licensing
  • Sharla O'Keefe, Section Chief  Substitute Care and Licensing Policy  
  • Ashley Keller, Section Chief Child Protective Services
  • Stevie Romano, Assistant Deputy Director of Regulatory Compliance
  • Patricia Wilson, Section Chief IV-E Policy
  • Lynn Sowards, Section Chief Kinship and Adoption Policy

Miatta and Aarron served as lead presenters, and the slides they shared were authored by fellow youth leader Karimah. During the meeting, we were honored to have the additional insights of Myranda as well. Group discussion included:

  • the negative impact of school disruption, when it comes to loss of adult and peer support
  • the importance of staff being medically certified
  • that it is a dangerous practice to medicate but not educate (i.e. failing to empower traumatized youth by teaching them coping skills)

Miatta stressed the need for youth voice in statewide decision-making, and the importance of ensuring that group homes and residential facilities are safe, secure and comfortable. Myranda shared that it can be difficult to work on your own trauma within a setting of 11 other residents. Quote: "The staff need better training. Not every youth in the unit is in the same place. We only get to see the therapist once a week. It's hard to focus on personal trauma because of the chaos."

Representatives from the Department of Children and Youth were very open to youth insights and feedback. Stevie Romano shared that her department certifies and monitors QRTPs, but that there can be a difference between a one day inspection vs. the day-to-day experiences of youth residents. Sharla O'Keeffe shared that her team writes QRTP rules, and has partnered with the OHIO YAB on other projects, such as exit interviews, in the past. 

 Quotes from DCY staff:

  • "I was overwhelmingly impressed by what I saw today."
  • "You and your group are pioneers."
  • "Your voice matters."
  • "The time is right for you to come to us with this."

Next steps will include focusing on: 

  1. Platform for youth voice (i.e. virtual focus groups, breakout sessions during OHIO YAB statewide quarterly meetings)

  2. Youth voice in training (similar to how OHIO YAB members have previously assisted OUCCAS in vetting workshops for foster parents)

  3. Establishing a Medical Ombudsman Office (here is a link to Arron's written testimony, which, on page 2, includes mapping out the need for this resource)

  4. Streamlining communication (Laurie Valentine is of great assistance in this regard)

  5. Service Planning 

OHIO YAB Ambassador Arron ended our call with a message of gratitude:

Thank you all for taking your time, space and energy to hear us out. Your gratitude is truly a gift. Thank you for talking and connecting with us. Thank you for your partnership in amplifying the voices of youth in matters that directly impact them.  

Lisa, our big sister and system sibling of a lifetime has been pushing a boulder up this hill that each of us youth are more than equipped and prepared to help see change in.

Vital check:

- Youth need and deserve safe housing (vs. spending nights in buildings)
- A Medical Ombudsman is needed for youth ASAP
-Funding toward clinical nurses in QRTPs is vital, so we can ensure that residentials do not get shut down, leaving youth without a safe avenue of shelter

Our passion comes from our experience of trauma. We do not intend to reiterate what we have gone through. We are the voices of youth today who cannot speak for themselves, who cannot be in these rooms. We are the new frontline of our struggle. 

Together, we will see a difference. Together, we are the change. You all are truly phenomenal. It is so rare to truly feel heard. My heart goes out to each soul who sat and listened and responded with us today.

Monday, February 12, 2024

Lighthouse Youth Services and the Hamilton County Youth Advisory Board


On Friday, February 9, 2024,  Jaleshia Brown of the Hamilton County Youth Advisory Board and Lisa Dickson of the OHIO YAB participated in a virtual meeting with the leadership team of Lighthouse Youth and Family Services. 

Participants included:

  • Paul Haffner, President and CEO
  • Bonita Campbell, Chief Operating Officer
  • Nathan Lynch, Vice President of Juvenile Justice and Residential Treatment
  • Victoria Ackman, Vice President of Clinical Services
  • Kelly Dunnigan, Vice President of Homeless Youth Services

This brainstorming meeting focused on future opportunities to collaborate and support Hamilton County youth and young adult voice, on a local and statewide level. 

Virtual Meeting with Buckeye Ranch

On Friday, February 9, 2024, OHIO YAB Ambassador Karimah Addison Bolding participated in a virtual meeting with the Buckeye Ranch leadership team to discuss. 

Participants included:

  • Vickie Thompson-Sandy, President and CEO
  • Kim Miller, Executive Vice President of Innovative Strategies
  • Casey Sudzina, Director of Marketing and Communications
  • Abby Maenle, Director of Development
Karimah shared this presentation

Her insights were welcomed by Buckeye Ranch staff, and there will be a follow up meeting for further discussion on Friday, February 23rd.  

Monday, February 5, 2024

Portage County involvement in the OHIO YAB

 On Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, an initial phone call was held to discuss future Portage County involvement in the OHIO YAB.  

Their adult supporter mentioned that Portage County youth had recently taken the Casey Life Skills Assessment, and overwhelmingly scored low in civic engagement and understanding of the child welfare system. The OHIO YAB is a great way to build this type of skills and knowledge. 

Portage County foster youth are welcome to participate in:

  • the NW Youth Leadership Retreat
  • the June Leadership and Life Skills Summit
  • OHIO YAB statewide quarterly meetings