Congratulations, Alex McFarland

Congratulations to Alex McFarland for being selected to serve on the inaugural National Foster Youth and Alumni Policy Council, headed up by FosterClub and Foster Care Alumni of America.

Alex currently serves as Legislative Liaison of Foster Care Alumni of America Ohio chapter and Vice President of the Ohio Youth Advisory Board.

The majority of council members are between the ages of 16 and 24 at the start of their service. Two seats are reserved specifically for older alumni.

Requirements for Eligibility:

• Must have spent time in out-of-home care (may include foster care, residential treatment, kinship care, legal guardianship)
• Demonstrate capacity to participate in a leadership position involving child welfare policy (for example, through participation on a Youth Advisory Board or Youth Council)
• Be able to articulate ideas and solutions regarding youth issues and concerns 
• Have the ability to interact constructively with peers in a group setting

Alex's Qualifications:

Alexander McFarland has served as President of Ohio's statewide foster care youth advocacy board (Ohio YAB) for two years. He currently serves as Vice President.

When the Ohio YAB lost its funding and supportive staff, Alex immediately began advocating for alternative funds, and succeeded in attaining a grant for 25K that currently supports the continued existence of not only the statewide board, but county and regional foster youth advisory boards as well. Alex has traveled throughout the state of Ohio to help create and develop youth advisory boards..

Alex has served as the Legislative Liaison for the Ohio chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America for three years. He participated in the 2008 FCAA Alumni Leadership Institute and the 2009 anniversary of Chafee funding. Alex was chosen by Ohio's First Lady to represent the needs of Ohio's foster care youth on Governor Strickland's 2010 Steering Committee to support Youth and Young Adults in Transition. In 2010, Alex was chosen as a FosterClub Outstanding Young Leader.

Alex is known throughout the state for his vision and determination. He testified before Ohio legislators to advocate for the restoration of the state Independent Living Allocation. He arranged for Ohio foster care youth, alumni and allies to visit 24 legislator’s offices on April 28, 2009, in order to promote Ready to Launch, a reminder to Ohio legislators of a front-end investment in transitional youth.

Alex recently met with the Ohio Attorney General on December 15, 2011 to encourage his office to partner with the Ohio Board of Regents in order to fund a full-time position to support Ohio Reach, a statewide initiative to increase the number of foster care youth who enroll in and graduate from college.

Alex McFarland Testimony on HB 86 ~ Foster Youth Notification Provisions

Link to more photos.

Sub. HB 86: Criminal Sentencing and Juvenile Justice Reform

Foster Youth Community Notification Provisions
Representatives Lou Blessing and Tracy Heard, Sponsors

Chairman Grendell, Vice-Chairman Obhof, Ranking Member Turner, and members of the Senate Judiciary-Criminal Justice Committee, thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony on HB 86.

My name is Alex McFarland I am a former foster child and current youth advocate. I represent the Ohio Youth Advisory Board, for which I served as President for two years.

I am here to express concerns and opposition to Foster Youth Community Notification Provisions that have been added to House Bill 86. Notices would be sent to school superintendents, the County sheriff and the Chief of Police, with the child’s name, age and address - as if the youth were an adult sexual offender or a hardened criminal.

My argument will focus on discrimination, prejudice, and stereotyping. The stigma of being in foster care is hard enough for young people to overcome. I once had told a friend that I was in the system; her response was,” What did you do wrong?” This idea that we the kids have done something wrong is one of the main reasons it took me a while to tell anyone about my past. Not only that but how do you explain to someone that your family doesn’t love you?

As a child I was thrown around, and told daily that I was worthless. This had a negative impact on my self esteem. I had low expectations of myself, because in my eyes, I was worthless.

Today, I am a college student, entering into my junior year at the Miami University Oxford. I am a manager at a pet store; a job that I have held for the past three years. I have served in leadership roles on a local and statewide level to advocate for current and former foster youth. The list could go on with the things I have accomplished. I am not worthless, and people value me.

As foster youth, we cannot change our parents or how we were raised - we can only change our future. This provision denies us once again the ability to live a normal life, something we want more than anything, to just feel okay.

What is the intent behind this provision? What is it intended to accomplish? By notify the Chief of Police and County Sheriff where foster youth live, this implies that if anything goes wrong in that neighborhood, it is probably a foster care youth. Similarly, contacting the superintendent sends the message that, “This child will not perform well at your school. This child will cause problems at your school.”

This provision is a form of prejudice that denies foster care youth the ability to live a normal life, something we want more than anything else, to just feel okay. We are not criminals; we are survivors in a world arranged for us to fail. This provision will only create one more barrier for us in our efforts to succeed. This provision is bad policy for Ohio and is bad policy for change.

Therefore I urge the Senate Judiciary-Criminal Justice Committee to remove the provision form HB 86 that will require notification when a foster youth moves into a neighborhood. Thank you for your time, and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

2011 Ohio YAB Officers Retreat

The 2011 Ohio YAB Officers Retreat took place on Saturday, January 15, 2011 at the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

 9:00 am – 10:00 am, Review Ohio YAB Strategic Plan (Adrian McLemore)
10:00 am – 10:30 am, Oath of Office for Ohio YAB Officers (Adrian McLemore)
10:30 am – 11:00 am, ODJFS Funding for YABs: Logistics (Doris Edelmann)
11:00 am – 11:30 am, Business Cards for Officers (Cieria Rodriguez-Toney)
11:30 am – 12:00 pm, YAB Officer Training and Development (Lisa Dickson)

BREAK for LUNCH

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm, Polls, focus groups, CRB, OH Bulletin (Lisa Dickson)
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm,  Ohio’s $8 billion deficit and advocacy (Doris Edelman)
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm, Regional outreach, YAB promotion (Adrian McLemore)
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm, Media Outreach, Technology (Alex McFarland)

Superintendent Delisle quotes Alex McFarland

The Office for Exceptional Children held their annual Special Education Leadership Conference yesterday afternoon and Superintendent Deborah Delisle provided the keynote address.

In her closing, she mentioned that she had come from a meeting with the OFCF Cabinet Council, where she heard from an amazing youth who had previously been in foster care. She proceeded to share Alex McFarland’s story as an example of the difference that one teacher can make in the life of a child, especially one that others may have overlooked or given up on.

Kara Waldron of the Office for Exceptional Children relates:

"Alex’s story was truly an inspiration to our crowd of more than 1,700. We are grateful for the work that he continues to do on behalf of Ohio’s youth. Without Alex McFarland, Adrian McLemore, and their counterparts, we might forget the meaning behind our efforts."

Alex McFarland named 2010 FosterClub Outstanding Young Leader

Alexander McFarland has served as President of Ohio's statewide foster care youth advocacy board (Ohio YAB) for two years. When the Ohio YAB lost its funding and supportive staff, Alex immediately began advocating for alternative funds, and succeeded in attaining a grant for 25K that will support the continued existence of not only the statewide board, but county and regional foster youth advisory boards as well. He has traveled throughout the state of Ohio to help create and develop youth advisory boards.

Alex has served as the Legislative Liaison for the Ohio chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America for two years. He participated in the 2008 Alumni , the 2009 anniversary of Chafee funding, and presented a workshop at the 2009 NILA Conference. Alex was chosen by Ohio's First Lady to represent the needs of Ohio's foster care youth on Governor Strickland's 2010 .

Alex is known throughout the state for his vision and determination. He testified before Ohio legislators to advocate for the restoration of the state Independent Living Allocation. He arranged for Ohio foster care youth, alumni and allies to visit 24 legislator’s offices in order to promote Ready to Launch, a reminder to Ohio legislators of a front-end investment in transitional youth.

Alex is committed to supporting the national foster care youth/alumni community. During the 2009 NILA conference, he arranged a meeting of representatives from the Colorado, Tennessee and Ohio chapter in order to network and share ideas. He continues to keep in touch with FCAA members in Colorado, in order to be a support to them as they build their chapter.

Finally, Alex is a strong advocate of education reform. He is an active participant in Ohio Reach, a statewide initiative to increase the number of foster care youth who enroll in and graduate from college. In 2009, he participated in the statewide Ohio Reach Summit, including serving on the panel of youth voices. Alex’s words and passion resonated with participants, which included 100 social workers and 100 higher education representatives.

Alex uses his experiences from his entire life, when he was officially in foster care and even before that, as well as all the experiences from the youth he interacts with on a daily basis, to help shape solutions for Ohio’s foster youth. Whether he is on the field in a legislator’s office, at school studying Biology, or working as a Assistant Manager for Jack’s Aquarium and Pets, Alex strives to help the Children, Foster Youth, Former Foster Youth and pets of his community.

Governor's Steering Committee on Transitional Youth and Young Adults

During 2010, Ohio YAB President Alex McLemore, former President Adrian McLemore, and adult supporters Mark Mecum, Doris Edelmann and Lisa Dickson participated in the Ohio Family and Children First Youth and Young Adults in Transition Steering Committee.

The committee was convened by Governor Strickland to recommend alignment and consolidation of policies, efforts, and resources and to identify major gaps for this particularly vulnerable and often overlooked population: vulnerable youth and young adults, ages 14-25.

After months of meetings, the committee has released its final report to the Ohio Family and Children First Cabinet Council.  The report may accessed here.