Conference Gives Foster Youth a Voice

DES MOINES, IA (08/26/2009)(readMedia)-- Children & Families of Iowa is teaming up with Toastmasters International, former State Senator JoAnn Johnson and State Representative Jodi Tymeson to turn youth into polished public speakers and give them leadership skills at the Elevate Leadership Retreat Saturday, August 29. Held at the Wildwood Hills Ranch in St. Charles, Iowa, the conference will help foster youth to share their life stories and explain the need for change in the foster care system to legislators, policy makers and the community.

"This conference is a wonderful opportunity for the kids to have fun, to learn how to express themselves before a group and to acquire leadership skills and other tools to accomplish their goals," says Elevate Education/Vocation Specialist Cheryl Johnson. "The Toastmasters create a positive, supportive environment in which youth can practice their public speaking without being judged."

According to Children & Families of Iowa's Johnson, youth in foster care do not get to weigh in at the level they would like on the decisions being made about them - decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. They are removed from their birth homes, sometimes separated from siblings and moved into foster care or placed in a group home without being consulted.

Statewide Elevate Coordinator Ruth Phillips adds, "Good communication skills are important if youth are going to have a voice in the recruiting and training of foster families and in the placement process."

In fact, having more input in the placement process tops the Elevate youths' list of legislative priorities for 2010. Elevate member Lorisha Martin, 21, Des Moines, explains why this issue matters to her, "As kids, we are told not to talk to strangers, yet foster kids are sometimes dropped off at a stranger's home. Our lives are being affected. We should have a say in where we are going to live and who we are going to live with."

Elevate youth like Martin spend a great deal of time making presentations to whoever will listen, in order to further their mission to improve life for youth in the foster care system.

In February this year, Elevate members from across the state held a legislative ice cream social at the Des Moines Capitol Rotunda. Prior to the event, they worked with the Drake University's Joan and Lyle Middleton Center for Children's Rights to draft bills that address what Elevate members see as problems in the foster care system. Youth's speaking skills were put to the test as they shared their stories with legislators and explained how current laws and policies affect them.

Thanks to similar efforts by Elevate members in 2007, Iowa legislators passed the Sibling Visitation Bill/Grandparent Visitation Bill in which the Department of Human Services is mandated to place siblings together whenever possible, even if it means working harder than they previously would have to place siblings in the same home.

"This was a big deal to us. People don't realize how important the bond between siblings is," says Martin. "My siblings kept me going. They were all I had left to connect me to my roots. When that bond is broken, you get lost. A piece of your puzzle is gone, and you may never get it back."

Toastmaster Christy Hatter of the Aegon Articulators Toastmaster club in Cedar Rapids, who is coordinating the Toastmasters volunteer efforts at the conference adds, "We are excited to give these children the skills they need as they reach out to others on behalf foster youth. It's a little thing that can have a big impact." Hatter will be joined by Toastmasters statewide who have created public speaking training specifically for Elevate youth.

This conference, which is funded by the Department of Human Services and the Child Welfare League of America, and other educational opportunities sponsored by Elevate help foster youth gain valuable experiences that they might not get otherwise. In many instances, children in foster care have had to focus on surviving, rather than thriving, often without consistent role models to demonstrate financial management, job preparedness or basics of personal health. According to the Iowa Department of Human Services, less than half of those who "age out" of the system at age 18 will graduate from high school within four years of release from care. By this same four-year mark, fewer than 20 percent will be able to support themselves financially. Another 20 percent end up homeless and 25 percent are incarcerated at least one night within two years of leaving the system.

In light of these alarming odds, Children & Families of Iowa and the Department of Human Services began Elevate in 2005. The program's mission is to transition foster youth into independent adults and self-advocates who can successfully educate others about the child welfare system and to take an active role in making life better for themselves and others in state care. Elevate members are youth ages 13 and up who have been involved in foster care, adoption or other out-of-home placements. Elevate chapters are currently located in Ames, Cedar Rapids, Clinton-Jackson, Cherokee, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Storm Lake and Waterloo. For more information visit: www.cfiowa.org and select "teen programs."

Children & Families of Iowa is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring hope, building futures and changing lives. Offices in Fort Dodge, Des Moines, Ankeny, Osceola and Centerville allow the organization to restore hope for victims of domestic violence, create safe homes for children and help people reshape their lives statewide.

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(For more information on Elevate or to set up an interview, contact Ann Seuferer at anns@cfiowa.org.)