Centering the Voices of Young People in Foster Care Reform (Co-sponsorship with the Child Advocacy Program) [Food Provided]

Tuesday, Sept. 27, 12:30-1:20 PM

WCC 3018
Lunch provided. RSVP here to help with food ordering.

Advocates for marginalized groups talk frequently about centering the voices of communities and other stakeholders to ensure that those most closely affected by the proposed policies drive reform.  Nevertheless, those same advocates often lack a clear plan for how to engage with those stakeholders in a way that allows for a true exercise of power in decision-making.  For young people involved in the foster care system, arguably among the most marginalized and disenfranchised of groups, advocates must overcome additional obstacles including societal conditioning that adults are typically in a better position to know what is best for young people.  Betsy Fordyce, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center, will share her organization’s systematic process for building and sharing power among transition-aged foster youth mobilizing for Child Welfare System reform in Colorado.  She will describe a youth empowerment framework the organization uses to guide their thinking and will then explain the steps that organizers take to lift the voices of foster youth around the state in pursuit of legislative and other policy advocacy, providing a blueprint for others to emulate.