Strategies to give youth a voice

What are strategies that can help youth share their voice

Some youth want to be more involved in the permanency process by advocating on their own behalf and actively reviewing potential homes. Create empowering opportunities for youth to represent themselves and engage with potential homes being considered.

Create an In-Depth Profile

In-Depth Profiles give youth the opportunity to choose what they want to share up front with potential families. Youth collaborate one-on-one with Northwest Adoption Exchange staff to brainstorm, create, review, and share a creative storytelling project that is then featured as their profile with Northwest Adoption Exchange. Check out the video below to learn more about what makes In-Depth Profiles such a unique, empowering opportunity for youth.

Vibe, a foster care alum, explains to other youth what an In-Depth Profile is.

As their caseworker, how you talk about opportunities like an In-Depth Profile influences a youth’s understanding and potential interest. Consider these tips when pitching this idea to a youth:

Ensure they know they have an active profile

Because the purpose of an In-Depth Profile is to reach potential families, kids need to know what is happening on their behalf—they need to know that they have a profile on Northwest Adoption Exchange, who can see it, and how it helps with their permanency search.

Frame an In-Depth Profile as something they’d want to say “yes” to

An older youth might give you a quick “no” if the only descriptive words they hear are “make a video” or “adoption profile.” Try highlighting:

• The empowerment side: potential homes can hear directly from them first.
• The creativity involved: any outside-the-box, multimedia-fueled brainstorm is on the table.
• Their project can focus on anything important to them, not just permanency-related stuff.

Give youth the choice to participate

Youth can reclaim agency by knowing that they get to choose to participate. It’s not mandatory, it’s up to them. They might have hesitancy or questions, and there is always space for those. Show them examples of other In-Depth Profiles. Help them access the "for youth" page on our website for videos created just for them to hear from other youth about what the process was like.

Contact us to get a youth involved in creating an In-Depth Profile of their own.

Attend a youth-led permanency consultation

Youth-led permanency consultations give older youth the chance to identify what they are looking for in a future home, as well as learn about real families who are interested in providing permanency to youth in foster care.

In a low-pressure environment, youth meet with a member of our staff (along with a trusted adult, like their caseworker) to watch several short family profile videos, created by licensed Northwest families. These videos shed light on different family makeups, household rhythms, interests, personalities, and geographic locations. The goal is to then launch conversations with youth about their preferences in a future home.

These consultations can provide valuable insight into a youth's preferences, and may even help broaden them once they see examples of real families. Creating an In-Depth Profile, either before or after, is a great pairing with their involvement.

Give youth a role in the family matching process

The time you spend reviewing potential families is done largely outside of a youth’s sight. This can create a lot of uncertainty for youth about what goes into that process and how you vet potential homes. Youth may not know they can be actively involved in this part of a permanency search. Try offering youth these opportunities:

• Mutually agree on a point when they can review a family with you.
  • For example, if a family meets certain criteria, or after a couple of initial conversations happen.
• Ask youth to create questions to send to interested families.
  • Then share the family’s response back with them.
• Have youth create an assignment for families being considered.
  • For example, make their own short profile, or share photos of their home, hobbies, or family.
• Co-create steps of interaction youth can expect to engage in with potential families.
  • For example, starting with a phone or video call and progressing toward an in-person visit.