Webinar Recording: Watch Here
Link to Handout: Powerpoint
Youth with lived experience in foster care know better than anyone how critical family and cultural connections are to their well-being. In this panel discussion, leaders from the Youth Engagement Project and California Youth Connection will reflect on their personal experiences and the ways kinship connections shaped their journeys toward permanency and well-being. Participants will hear recommendations directly from youth advocates, gain strategies for strengthening family connections, and leave with insights to apply in their work supporting children and families.
By the end, participants will:
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Identify one or more actions they can take in the course of their daily work to implement greater focus on kin-first practices.
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Describe why every child deserves to maintain connections to all the people in their lives who love and care about them.
Presenters:
Amy Duarte (she/her) is a recent UC Davis graduate with a B.A. in Political Science and minors in Sociology and Chicana/o Studies. She serves as an alumni advisor with First Star’s Foster Youth Pre-College Collective and as a Youth Engagement Project ambassador for Mendocino County. Duarte also works as a Transitional Development Specialist with The Community College Foundation, supporting foster youth in Los Angeles County. She is passionate about advancing policy change and aspires to continue her work at the state level.
Tea Frazel (they/them) is a program specialist with the Center for Excellence in Family Finding, Engagement and Support at UC Davis. Frazel has worked in public child welfare for nearly 20 years in a variety of roles, including social worker, supervisor, trainer, coach, curriculum developer and consultant. Specializing in leadership behaviors that advance racial equity and inclusion, Frazel is relentlessly committed to using their years of practice-based research to meaningfully address racial disproportionality and disparities in child welfare and related fields. Frazel is committed to bringing their whole self to work in the belief that joy, community and play are necessary and vital components in systems change work.
Sophia Jeffe (she/her) is a former youth ambassador for the Youth Engagement Project, providing expert feedback regarding educational outcomes for youth in care based on her lived and professional expertise working with college-aged foster youth. She currently works at CFPIC on the Family First Prevention Services Program and is pursuing her MSW at the University of Southern California, with a focus on youth and families and system innovation. She is passionate about supporting youth with complex care needs to navigate the system and uplifting foster youth voice in the process!
Michael Jaydan (he/him) is the youth ambassador for the Youth Engagement Project who supports the County of Stanislaus. He is passionate about helping foster youth and enhancing the foster care system, specifically for youth with disabilities and aims to equip individuals with the essential life skills to transition out of the foster care system. In addition to YEP, he is also the LINC/Nextup ambassador at Cerritos College, where he provides outreach services and engagement programming.
Anastasia (she/her) has been proudly working with California Youth Connection (CYC) for the past two years. Through her work, she strives to amplify the voices of young people, advocate for their rights, and create opportunities that help them thrive. She believes every youth deserves to be heard, valued, and supported in reaching their goals, and her passion for mentoring, community engagement, and advocacy drives her to make a meaningful difference every day.
Selena (she/her) is a Lead Ambassador for the Youth Engagement Project. She has been in this role for nearly two years, uplifting foster youth voices and strengthening support systems. She also contributes to the Thrive Together campaign, sharing her story to break mental health stigma and inspire other young people to lead and create change.
Lauren Mendez (she/her) is a lead ambassador for the Youth Engagement Project. She currently also works in Stanislaus County to support youth ages 13-24 who are in crisis and experiencing homelessness. Mendez's lived expertise has included projects surrounding prevention planning, kinship care, complex needs/STRTP's, recruitment/retention of resource families and Independent Living Programs. Lauren is a member of the CSEC Action Team Advisory Board with the National Center for Youth Law, as well as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Center for Excellence in Family Finding, Engagement, and Support.
Mandy Thiara (she/her) is an analyst with the Family Permanency & Support Services Branch, Kin Centric Compass Unit. She has worked for the California Department of Social Services for 1 year, supporting the Center for Excellence in Family Finding, Engagement and Support, assisting counties with efforts to keep youth connected to their biological families and extended family members.