Elevating Youth Voices: Core Values

Speakers: Elizabeth Wynter

So as we begin to talk about the core principles of youth engagement, which are preparation, support and debriefing. We have got to be able to provide all three of those to young people when we want to engage their voices so that we don't trigger past trauma and that we don't exacerbate emotional distress. And so how can adherence to these principles make a difference? Well, I'm gonna share two stories in which those principles weren't utilized so you can see how they make a difference. And so in one story, there was a young man, it was during COVID back when we were doing court hearings online. And so this young man was in high school and he was invited to participate on zoom for his court hearing. What he did not know was that his biological father was going to be on the call. A man he'd never met before and he heard on that call, he heard his biological father surrender his rights, After the call was completed, he hung up the phone and went back to his classroom. Can you imagine how he must have felt? The fact that nobody prepared him for this experience? Nobody was there to support him and he wasn't debriefed afterward. So you can imagine, right? His upset, his behavioral response and most people at his foster home or his group home wouldn't have even known. Right. What had occurred? And so you can see the, the issues that may come out from that. In a second story, there was a, a young lady who was living in a group home, she was picked up from school by her case manager. There was no conversation in the car. And when she got to the group home where she was living, she found all her belongings packed in trash bags sitting at the front of the of, of the the home. And she was told at that time that she was being moved to another group home. She got no time to, she lost some belongings at the previous home. She got no time to process grief and loss or even say goodbye to her foster brothers and sisters or to her to the staff. And so you can imagine, you know, her now going to the next placement and, and we expect, right, them to be excited and, and fit in in the next placement. But over time these placement disruptions can have a real emotional and impact on those young people that we serve. And so the question is, is, you know, what measures can we take to ensure that young people are safe and supported, especially in moments of significant transition or trauma to make sure that they are emotionally and socially needs that their emotional and social needs are met. And so we have to assume the responsibility to support them in this process. We need to acknowledge their experiences and create an environment where they feel truly seen, heard and valued. We need to stand behind them as they navigate the complex terrain of grief and loss. And we need to empower them to build healthy attachments and strive towards finding relational and/or legal permanency. And so these young people's lives depend on us to provide the care, the compassion and the unwavering support that they so desperately need during this difficult time in child welfare.