Deeper Dive Webinar: Meaningful Relationships – What Matters to Youth in Foster Care

Join Us for a Deeper Dive: Meaningful Relationships — What Matters to Youth in Foster Care

Tuesday, June 20, 2023, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. (CT)

Youth are foster care experts through their lived experience. Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI)-MN Youth developed this panel presentation to help caregivers and child welfare staff understand the importance of relationships from their perspective. Areas of focus will include family, friendships, community, and the relationships built during their time in care.

Presented by: Youth Leaders from Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI)-MN
The Youth Voices action work group meets monthly with current focuses of creating presentations, training and education materials for foster parents and child welfare staff. Youth are divers in culture (BIPOC, LGBTQ+/Two-Spirit) and fostering experience (relative, non-relative, adopted, aged-out, parenting youth, Metro/Greater MN). Their long-term goal is that all prospective foster families will have been training, or have heard from, a foster youth as part of the licensing process.

The Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI), a strategy of the Youth Law Center, is an approach to strengthening foster care, refocusing on excellent parenting for all children in the child welfare system. QPI in Minnesota (QPI-MN) was launched in October 2017. QPI leverages the power of relationships and the wisdom of those who have experienced the foster care system firsthand. Lived experience, developmental research and a focus on parenting are the three principles QPI uses to make decisions. All individuals and organizations are welcome to join the QPI-MN efforts.

Through QPI-MN involvement, youth have identified what is important to them while in out-of-home placement. “We don’t see our needs in the traditional way of child welfare professionals. It’s not about getting me to the doctor in the first 30 days of placement or making sure I meet all my dental appointments. Those are important, but it would be helpful if the system could help us with these needs, like making more decisions for ourselves, knowing our contributions matter, opportunities to show independence and responsibility and letting us know what is available for us as our rights as foster kids”.

This webinar will take place on Zoom and it will be recorded. You will receive the link to join after registering below.