What is the Importance of Having a Youth Council?
Our final Foster Youth Voice Month blog post is guest authored by John Watson, One Voice IMPAACT Youth Council Specialist. We hope you enjoyed the series! One of the core principles of One Voice IMPAACT is Youth Engagement. We offer many insights on how to promote youth engagement through various calls, trainings, and activities. However, […]
On the Other Side: Reflecting on Transition
When I was a minor in foster care, I often felt utterly hopeless. Time and time again, I felt abandoned and forgotten by a system that was meant to help me. I wanted to get a job, so I could save up and buy a car, because where I live, you need a car to get […]
Candid Camera: Legislator Edition
Everyone has this omnipotent view of legislators. Sometimes we forget they are people. They have feelings and most importantly, they have fun! If you take a look at our social media, @onevoiceimpaact on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll see some videos with some very familiar people. Every time I proposed the idea of doing a TikTok […]
Plugged Into Resources
Youth transitioning from Florida’s foster care system, like all young people climbing the path to
adulthood, need resources. From financial assistance and education to health care and housing…
Tokenism
What hinders youth engagement? Disengaged youth may not tell us why they failed to show up to a meeting when they confirmed their attendance or why they “ghosted us” when we asked them to…
What IS Youth Voice?
It’s a simple question, yet it carries a lot of significance. What is Youth Voice? It isn’t a sound you can pick out of a crowd of voices or a quote you can choose from a list of words. Authentic Youth Voice is something you can feel. You can feel the passion, the understanding, and […]
Strategic Sharing
Youth with lived experience in foster care are often asked to share their story for a variety of reasons. Youth are flattered by being asked to speak but without adequate preparation it can go off course and awaken painful emotions for the youth, leaving the audience wondering how to fix such a broken system. […]
Valid Point
I experienced foster care for about 9-10 years. I entered the system at the age of two, and exited the first time at the age of four. I do not remember much of my time in foster care at that age, but the second time I entered foster care, I was 12 years old. I […]
Giving Young Adults a Platform to Advocate
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. It seems like a simple concept, but what about when it comes to a young person and using their voice. It’s easy to advocate for someone and what we believe would […]
What is Selfless Love?
For me selfless love is having people who make you feel welcome, people who listen to you and people who make sure that you are safe and stable. I have found this with One Voice IMPAACT (OVI), Selfless Love Foundation’s youth voice initiative. When I attended my first OVI training, I was nervous. But Diamond, […]