Youth Led Permanency Consultations
Intended Audience
- Child Welfare Workers
- Youth
Targeted Age Group(s)
- 13-17
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.
- Engage Specialized Staff
- Prioritize Legal, Relational and Cultural Permanence
Description
Youth Led Permanency Consultations are opportunities for empowerment for older youth in care. Participating youths review video profiles of families willing to adopt an older youth to identify the traits they are looking for in a family. This information is shared with a youth’s caseworker and other members of their team to ensure they are looking for the type of family the youth is interested in. This program is built around three goals:
- Find permanency for older youths in care who do not have permanent homes identified.
- Engage and empower youths in care to take active roles in the permanency planning process.
- Elevate youth voice in innovative ways to connect families potentially willing to adopt with youths who need permanency.
Youths may attend these consultations either virtually or in person. Many youths choose to attend accompanied by a connected adult who is most often a caseworker, a parent who is fostering or a staff member in a group home. If there is a family that a youth shows particular interest in, the family is contacted to see if they would like to learn more about the youth.
Implementation Considerations
Youth preparation before a consultation and follow-up after it are equally as important as the facilitation and engagement that occur during the event. As with any good youth engagement strategy, youths are equipped best to succeed when given ample preparation and choice about their involvement. Similarly, follow-up with participants is key to ensure that youths understand that the work they have done to review families is valued, respected, and receiving further attention.
The Youth Led Permanency Consultation model requires the ability to identify and create profiles of licensed families who are interested in adopting teens. Without an identified pool of families interested in older youth, organizations risk asking youths to participate in an event that does not feature a diverse group of families in whom the youths would be able to identify traits or the make-up of the family, that are important to them. Current best practice is to have youth view 3-5 family videos with diverse family structures.