2024 April OHIO YAB Statewide Quarterly Meeting

Link to slides.

OHIO YAB presentation for the Ohio Department of Mental Health

On Friday, April 12, 2024 at 10 am, OHIO YAB Ambassador Aaron Brown participated in a virtual meeting with Janel Pequignot and Milan Karna of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. 

This presentation echoed concerns shared during the Friday Feb. 16th presentation for the Ohio Department of Children and Youth. 

The top three asks were: 

a.) Additional State Funding to Support QRTP Placements (and Avoid Youth Spending Nights in Buildings Due to Lack of Available Placements) 
b.) Youth Voice in QRTP Training
c.) Establishment of a Medical Ombudsman (and/or some type of Statewide Technical Assistance to Avoid and Address Misdiagnosis and Overmedication of Foster Youth) 

Aaron quoted from his previous written testimony to share that:

• Just as the state of Ohio now has a Youth Ombudsman Office, it would deeply benefit from a Medical Ombudsman as well. So that foster care youth who are overmedicated and misdiagnosed would have recourse, and a resource to go to for a second opinion. Through the brokenness of the system, I have learned that we all deserve quality care in every aspect our lives – especially healthcare.

• The medical treatment that was afforded to me as a minor adolescent in the system can be equated to the experimentation of a guinea pig, due to the excess of illinformed prescriptions that these licensed and certified physicians and therapists were testing out on me. Those who have not experienced overmedication cannot understand the splitting of the mind and the honeycombing of my brain that I experienced as a byproduct of being forced on certain medication regimens at such a young age. Nor can they understand the fortitude that it takes to recover from this experience. 

Notes from today's call are forthcoming...

OHIO YAB Youth Ambassador Aryunna Hill in the Dayton Daily News

Local child abuse, neglect investigations down 10%: Former foster kid’s story highlights need

Reporter Sydney Dawes, Dayton Daily News, April 8, 2024

 Montgomery County Children Services saw a 10% drop in child abuse and neglect investigations, and county officials are pointing to the need for vigilance to prevent harm against local children.

The county’s children services agency on Friday released annual 2023 data showing 3,370 total investigations for the year. So far in 2024, the children services agency has opened 861 cases. It receives an average of 500-1,000 calls or referrals monthly.

April is nationally recognized as Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month.

“As a community, it is our collective responsibility to remain vigilant in protecting our children,” said Montgomery County Commission President Debbie Lieberman. “If a child trusts you enough to tell you something’s wrong, please believe them and call for help.”

Aryunna Hill, 19, said her neighbors calling the police nearly 15 years ago may have saved her life.

She and her sibling were left home alone for three days while their mother was away. Hill was only 4 years old at the time.

She said that her placement in foster care removed her from a potentially dangerous situation. She recently graduated high school and is working to pursue her dream of becoming a phlebotomist.

“I’m not that scared, helpless little girl anymore,” she said.

She said if adults see something that causes alarm or concern, they should take action by making a call.

2024 NW Ohio Youth Leadership Retreat

Link to more photos.

On Saturday, March 30, 2024, the OHIO YAB and ACTION Ohio partnered with The Ohana Project, Lucas County Children Services, Allen County Children Services and the Bridges NW Regional Coordinator to plan and facilitate a Northwest Ohio Youth Leadership Retreat for current and former foster youth (ages 14-24).

The event took place in Toledo at Brookwood Park. 

 Activities included:

• An introductory skit
• Sharing the History of the Foster Care Youth and Alumni Movement 
• Strategic Sharing activity with laminated traffic lights
• Discussing the Value of Youth Advisory Boards
• A hands-on nonverbal communication exercise
• Icebreaker Balls to recap morning learning
• Youth working on their Youth Advocate Profile
• A Leadership Styles activity
• A Conflict Resolution activity

2024 OHIO YAB Promotional Video Project ~ Filming

 

Link to more photos. 

On Friday, March 22, 2024, OHIO YAB Youth Ambassadors participated in filming for an OHIO YAB promotional video. Videographer Shalonda Swanson, of Yemoja Speaks, is a former foster youth herself. Youth participants included Yavian Webster, Miatta Joe, Aaron Brown, Erik Ezekiel and Jahmie Woods. 

The OHIO YAB is grateful to Ann Bischoff for providing the video location, and to Deric Cobb, Yvonne Williams and Kim Eckhart for providing transportation.

Youth recommendations for future video projects, based on their experience with this one are:

1. Provide food and beverages.
2. Make sure young adult participants have the specific questions ahead of time, as they did for this opportunity.
3. Less is more when it comes to questions: Fewer questions; shorter questions.
4. It mattered who asked the questions and how well they knew that person.
5. Importance of doing something silly and fun afterwards, with adult supporters.

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. 

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?”