Skip to content
QIC-EY
  • About
    • About QIC-EY
      • QIC-EY Overview
      • Teaming Structure
      • Pilot Sites
    • QIC-EY Teams
      • Partner Agencies
      • Advisory Councils
      • Collaborators
    • Evaluation
      • Evaluation Methods
  • Curriculum
    • Workforce Training
      • Curriculum Overview
      • Facilitator Materials
      • Participant Tool Kit
    • Court Training
      • Training Overview
      • Court Training Evaluation
  • Products
    • Barriers to Authentic Youth Engagement
    • Child and Youth Engagement Activity Guide
    • Court Materials
    • Lessons Learned
    • State Survey
    • Videos
  • Program Catalog
  • QIC-EY NOW
  • Contact
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu
Intervention/Model

Youth Advocacy Project (YAP)

August 14, 2023/in /by dev@elefant.design
Intended Audience
  • Child Welfare Workers
  • Court Personnel/Legal Professionals
Targeted Age Group(s)
  • 10-12
  • 13-17
  • 18 or older
QIC-EY Engagement Model Components (i) The engagement model components were identified through the QIC-EY Environmental Scan as critical to the support of youth engagement in the attainment of permanence.
  • Support Youth Empowerment
  • Prioritize Legal, Relational and Cultural Permanence
  • Enhance Court Practices
Description

The Youth Advocacy Project (YAP) developed by the Michigan Court Improvement Program assigns a professional with lived expertise in foster care, known as “Youth Champions,” to work one-on-one with youths age 11 and older currently in foster care. A core foundation of the program is connecting youths currently in foster care with professionals who have walked in their shoes. Along with helping youths currently in foster care to equip themselves with self-advocacy skills useful both inside and outside of the courtroom, the Youth Champion does all of the following:

  • educates youths about state and federal foster care laws and policies;
  • prepares youths for court hearings, including explaining how the court system works, types of hearings and the different roles of court personnel involved in each youth’s case;
  • encourages youths to attend case planning and agency meetings;
  • educates youths about transition planning, and
  • provides mentorship.

 

A youth can be referred to the YAP program through the young person’s lawyer-guardian ad litem (L-GAL), the agency working with the youth, the court or by the youth’s self-referral. Once the referral is made, a Youth Champion schedules an initial meeting with the youth to explain the project and the role of the youth champion. If the youth is interested, the Youth Champion then completes the intake process by building rapport with the youth and explaining next steps.

The goals of the YAP program are:

  • to increase youth attendance and participation in court hearings and case planning meetings;
  • to allow meaningful participation by ensuring that youths feel welcome and prepared in court;
  • to enhance judicial decision-making by hearing directly from youths and their L-GALs; and
  • to build tools and resources for youth to promote self-advocacy skills and to raise awareness about laws, policies, services and community resources available to youth in foster care.
Implementation Considerations

The initial intent of the YAP program was to form a partnership between child welfare agencies and the court. Each partner has specific roles and responsibilities related to delivery of the program. These roles can be negotiated to some extent, but they need to be delineated as part of the implementation planning process.

The program is driven by the Youth Champions, who are expected to participate in court hearings and Team Decision-making Meetings (TDMs) regarding the youths assigned to them. Youth Champions also need to meet with each of their assigned youths’ caseworkers at least once a month. However, Youth Champions do not provide legal advice or case consultation.

Trainings hosted by Youth Champions to educate youths about child welfare laws, policies, available services and community resources include a five-part webinar series. The series includes:

  • Training 1: State Child Welfare
  • Training 2: Government Basics
  • Training 3: Rights and Responsibilities
  • Training 4: Strategic Sharing
  • Training 5: Resources

The training series already developed is specific to Michigan; so, agencies looking to implement the YAP program would have to invest in the adaptation of the trainings to ensure that it is reflective of their own systems.

In addition, Youth Champions host the following types of meetings with their assigned youths:

  • Self-advocacy Basics Meeting: Courtroom and meeting etiquette, how to talk with a judge and a case planning team, how to write a letter
  • Before and After Scheduled Court Hearings and Meetings: Preparation sessions to ensure that the youth understands the purpose of the upcoming hearing or meeting, plus debriefing sessions to explain and to discuss the results (These meetings also serve as coaching opportunities for the Youth Champion to provide feedback about the youth’s self-advocacy skills.)

The caseload for a full-time Youth Champion averages 15 to 20 cases. Youth Champions are required to have lived expertise. Prospective Youth Champions who have a bachelor’s degree in a human-service-related field (e.g., social work, psychology, counseling, etc.) are highly preferred. Agencies wanting to implement the YAP program need to provide their Youth Champions with training and ongoing supervision. Participation in the seven-day, Youth Champion training program includes homework. Agencies also may require their Youth Champions to participate in a Certified Peer Mentor Training Program.

Program Attachments
“Youth Advocacy Project Annual Report 2022 – 2023” and “Youth Advocacy Project Flyer 2023”
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://qic-ey.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/qic-ey-logo-2.png 0 0 dev@elefant.design https://qic-ey.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/qic-ey-logo-2.png dev@elefant.design2023-08-14 06:57:422024-03-25 20:31:55Youth Advocacy Project (YAP)

Catalog

Back to full Catalog
Michigan Court Improvement Program - Child Welfare Services
Casey Anbender
Email
Website
About

QIC-EY Overview
Partner Agencies
Advisory Councils
Evaluation

Helpful Links

Pilot Sites
QIC-EY Products
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Cookies Policy

Join the Mailing List

Receive updates on the QIC-EY including products being released, training opportunities and other information to help inform your work on youth engagement.

Join the List
  • Follow us on LinkedIn

This website is supported by grant number 90CO1142. This website is supported by the Administration for Children & Families (ACF) of the United States (U.S.) Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $5,000,000 million with 100 percent funded by ACF/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, ACF/HHS or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit the ACF website, Administrative and National Policy Requirements, at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/administrative-and-national-policy-requirements.

Link to: Teen Focus Link to: Teen Focus Teen Focus
Scroll to top Scroll to top Scroll to top

The QIC-EY website uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

AcceptCookies PolicyPrivacy Policy

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy
Accept settingsHide notification only
Open Message Bar Open Message Bar Open Message Bar