Empowering Foster Youth: Montgomery County’s Youth Advisory Board
Tuesday Times: Issue 33: April 29, 2025
Montgomery County Children Services is empowering older foster youth through its Local Youth Advisory Board, established in 2004. For over a decade, the board has provided foster youth with opportunities to develop independent living skills, engage in advocacy, and build leadership experience. Members actively participate in statewide initiatives, ensuring their voices shape supportive programs while engaging in activities that foster independence, essential life skills, and a sense of normalcy.
Recently, the Montgomery County Youth Advisory Board organized a life-skills training experience that combined etiquette lessons with enriching cultural activities. Youth dressed in business casual attire and took part in a formal dining experience at Spaghetti Warehouse, followed by attending a theatrical performance of Peter Pan at the Schuster Center in Dayton, Ohio.
Etiquette skills were introduced during dinner, emphasizing phone-free interactions, proper table manners, and appropriate tipping. Youth learned how to correctly pass items around the table, signal when they had finished their meal, and demonstrate respectful dining behavior. At the play, additional skills focused on social awareness and environmental understanding, including effective communication, answering questions clearly, providing complete information, and minimizing noise distractions during the performance.
Montgomery County’s Aftercare Coordinator, Stacia Burlingame, continues to develop innovative programs that equip foster youth with essential life skills for independence. One such initiative, the Escape to Independence kit, is an interactive challenge designed to reinforce life skills. Modeled after a breakout room, this engaging activity encourages youth to collaborate, solve tasks, and unlock their kit—promoting teamwork, problem-solving, life skills, and practical decision-making.
Through these efforts, Montgomery County Children Services remains dedicated to fostering confidence, independence, and a sense of belonging among foster youth, ensuring they are equipped with the skills and experiences needed to thrive in adulthood.
Ohio is home to the Overcoming Hurdles in Ohio Youth Advisory Board (OHIO YAB), a statewide organization of young people, ages 14-24, who have experienced foster care. OHIO YAB exists to be the knowledgeable statewide voice that influences policies and practices that impact youth who have or will experience out-of-home care, including foster care, kinship care, adoption and congregate care (such as group homes and residential facilities).
Ohio counties interested in creating a local Youth Advisory Board can contact Lisa Dickson, Communications Chair, at lisa@fosteractionohio.org to schedule a virtual meeting to begin the process.
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