Speakers: Elizabeth Wynter
Elizabeth Wynter: As we're talking about scaffolding permanent connections, I wanted to pop in and talk a little bit about engaging young people in permanency planning. Making sure that their voice is helping us make determinations on which path to go forward with. And so any time we're going to invite a young person to participate in a meeting, there's a few steps we need to think about. And so, and that of course, remember the core values, right? Preparation, support, and debriefing. Really important values as we work on youth engagement. But we're gonna, we're gonna invite them to a permanency planning meeting. We have to remember to explain the opportunity. Young people don't know what the word permanency means. And so we need to define permanency for them as a permanent stable living situation. We need to talk about what is planning, what goes on in these meetings and what are the potential outcomes, right? It could be reunification, adoption, guardianship, or long term foster care. And so those are important things for the young person to understand what all of those things entail. We want to make sure that we clarify their role. What are they going to be expected to speak, what, what's their level of involvement? We also have to inform them about who else is going to be at the meeting, explain what their roles are. So the young person understands what's going on. We also want to discuss the agenda, right? What's the plan for the meeting? What, what goals we want to achieve outside the meeting? And we have to address any reluctance and we'll dive in a little bit more about that. So young people may for a variety of reasons, decline the offer to participate in a permanency planning meeting. And so it's important for us to unpack that "no". I know we talk about that a lot around adoptions, but there's other things that we need to really think about. like what are the underlying feelings and emotions and concerns or lack of interest, what is that telling us? And so we want to ask questions, right? That's how you unpack the no is to ask questions and get to the root causes of the 'no', right? And so, you know, you can ask questions about, you know, how do you feel about this upcoming meeting? And these questions help you build trust and create closer bonds and attachment. You know, what did you dislike about previous meetings? What specifically makes you uncomfortable about attending this meeting? You can address what they may perceive as power imbalances by asking, you know, do you feel heard during, during these meetings, why or why not? Are there decisions in your life that you want more say in? And that of course, helps them understand why this is so important. You want to explore sort of some of the emotional and developmental factors by asking questions. Did the meeting topics seem relevant to you? Are there, would a pre-meeting briefing help? Right? We want to identify any support needs, right? So would bringing a trusted person, a supportive adult into the meeting help you? And, and what can we do to make the meeting more comfortable for you? I think that's a really important question. And you can also offer alternatives, right? If they prefer not to attend the meeting, you know, can they write a letter, can they have someone else share their their views and ideas, right? Would a different time or location make a difference? Oftentimes we're having meetings while they're supposed to be attending school. And so, you know, is it the time or the location? Right? Are they struggling with, you know, who's going to coordinate transportation? Right. That's all on us. And then you want to encourage really, you know, open communications like, you know, are there certain topics that you want to avoid? Right. And I think we need to ask that question ahead of time. You know, how should we handle those topics when they come up? And then, you know, reflecting on their perspective, you know, what would make these meetings more worthwhile for you? And, and how can we align these meetings to help you achieve your goals? Right? Because we have to remember while we're trying to achieve some, you know, contract and, and child welfare goals, the young person has other things in mind that are important to them and, and how can this meeting really serve them? And so these questions really help understand and address any reluctance upon the youth. And they lead to a more supportive process.
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