Dear Governor Hunt:
We are young people who are or have been in out-of-home care. We want a voice in what happens to us. Adults have been making decisions for us-sometimes good and sometimes bad. We want to be part of these decisions because it is our lives.
We formed a group of youth who are in foster care or who have been in foster care. We call ourselves Say So or Strong Able Youth Speaking Out. We want to improve the foster care system by speaking out to change policies, educating others about foster care, and providing support for other youth. We think this is an important group because adults come up with policies that affect us and the foster care system as a whole. In order to have the system change for the better, those in power-the adults--must listen to youth. Adults make decisions without asking kids in the system about what we want and need. We are the people who live in foster care. Please ask us how to make it better.
These are the things that we want you to know about foster care:
- Foster care is not temporary for a lot of kids. Many of us live in foster care for many years and that's not okay.
- Many of us don't have contact with our families and siblings, something that other youth take for granted.
- Foster parents and foster youth are left in the dark about information that we need to know.
- Foster kids are just like other kids but we don't get the same opportunities or treatment. For example, many of us can't join after-school activities or go on school trips.
- Different age foster youth have different needs. The policies for preschoolers should not be the same as those for teenagers.
- More is expected of foster kids than other kids. Foster kids are not bad but the community thinks we are. We didn't want to be in foster care. It's not our fault.
These are the things that we think will make foster care better. We have lots of specific ideas and would like to talk with you about them.
- Youth in foster care should be involved in training social workers and foster parents, in making decisions about their own lives (we want to be involved in making our permanent plan), and in making decisions about foster care policies.
- Adults need to improve the quality of services that we get, and give us more options (like graduated living and placement options)
- Foster and adoptive parents, social workers and foster youth need more support from the foster care system.
Governor Hunt, we know that you are working to make things better for kids in North Carolina. We think that Say So is an important way to help youth in foster care and we hope that you will consider joining us in the effort to improve our lives and the lives of all other children in out-of-home care. We would like to meet with you and your staff in the near future. We have many great ideas and we want to share them with you.
Sincerely,
