►
Description
Many older youth in the child welfare system are experiencing disruptions in their lives due to social distancing measures. Older youth and young adults who have recently exited the system are contending with housing and economic instability—some having lost their homes or incomes as a result of college and university closures. This session will examine federal and state efforts to support youth aging out of the child welfare system during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A
A
A
So,
as
I
mentioned
throughout
the
series,
children
and
families
of
color
have
received
desperate
outcomes
when
navigating
through
the
child
welfare
system
and
the
pandemic,
and
also
the
subsequent
economic
downturn,
as
well
as
the
national
race
relations
crisis,
which
is
all
just
really
further
shed
light
on
these
disparities.
And
so
we
just
ask
that,
as
you
listen
to
our
panelists
today,
that
you
keep
these
families
in
mind
throughout
our
discussion.
A
I
also
want
to
once
again
highlight
the
60
statements
from
legislators
addressing
issues
of
racism
as
they've
offered
guidance
and
insight
into
what
legislative
leaders
are
thinking
and
how
they
are
reflecting
on
issues
that
many
policy
makers
feel
need
to
be
addressed
during
this
time.
This
will
also
be
included
in
our
resources
that
we'll
share
with
you
all
at
the
end
of
this
session.
A
For
starters,
we'd
like
to
thank
both
casey
family
programs
and
the
annie
e
casey
foundation
for
their
support
to
this
project,
and
I
want
to
start
out
today
letting
you
know
a
little
bit
about
our
agenda.
We're
going
to
have
an
audience
poll,
I'm
going
to
do
a
brief
introduction
of
our
speakers
and
let
you
know
what
agencies
they
represent
and
then
we're
going
to
have
something
a
little
different.
A
So
today
we
are
hoping
that
you
will
learn
about
the
impacts
of
covet,
19
and
and
the
impact
that
it's
had
on
older
youth
in
foster
care
or
young
adults
who
are
transitioning
from
foster
care,
and
this
is
going
to
include
challenges
related
to
housing,
school
closures,
limited
court
capacity
and
child
care
needs.
We're
also
going
to
hear
ideas
on
what
support
could
look
like
from
our
panelists,
including
challenges
related
to
them
aging
out
of
the
system
during
this
pandemic.
A
So
just
a
bit
of
housekeeping.
If,
for
any
reason
you
need
help
during
this
call,
just
refer
back
to
that
zoom
cheat
sheet
for
tips.
If
you
have
problems
or
if
you
inadvertently
get
dropped
out
to
simply
reuse
the
link
that
you
used
to
originally
join
the
meeting,
and
then
I
just
also
want
to
remind
you
all
just
please
put
any
questions
that
you
may
have
as
you're
listening
to
our
panelists
in
to
the
chat
box.
A
So
today
I
want
to
tell
you
who
we
are
joined
by,
and
I
I
hope
he's
had
a
chance
to
make
it
on
I'm
going
to
holler
out
his
name.
Just
in
case
we
are
joined
with
cancel.
Who
is
the
founder
and
chief
executive
officer
of
think
of
us?
We
also
have
amanda
metevere,
who
is
the
co-founder
director
board
member
of
facing
foster
care
in
alaska
and,
lastly,
we
will
hear
from
galilea
caruso,
who
is
a
member
of
think
of
us.
A
B
Ray
thank
you
so
much
donna.
Yes,
I
the
poll
is
before
us.
The
question
is
what
kinds
of
supports
did
your
state
provide
older
youth
transitioning
from
care
during
and
after
the
pandemic,
and
your
choices
are
allowing
older
youth
to
not
age
out
of
foster
care,
offering
additional
financial
and
other
assistance,
including
housing,
allowing
extended
foster
care
beyond
age
21?
B
B
Give
another
few
seconds
it
looks
like
58
percent
of
respondents
do
not
know
what
kinds
of
support
have
been
provided.
The
next
category
there's
a
tie
between
allowing
older
youth
to
not
age
out
of
foster
care.
26
of
you,
another
26
percent
said
your
state
allowed
extended,
foster
care
beyond
age,
21.
B
A
C
C
So
first
let
me
say
that
I'm
just
so
grateful
for
the
work
that
I've
just
been
seeing
across
the
country
over
the
last
six
months.
We've
been,
you
know
in
the
presence
of
young
people,
staff
legislators,
folks,
who've
been
just
working
around
the
country
and
I
don't
think
we
say
thank
you
enough
sometimes,
so
I
just
wanted
to
pause
and
just
say
thank
you
to
everyone.
Who's
done
so
much
great
work
because
I
we
really
could
not
have.
C
We
could
not
have
seen
what's
going
on
in
terms
of
meeting
young
people's
needs
with
that.
So
I
just
wanted
to
share
a
little
bit
about
myself
and
about
think
of
us
and
talk
talk
a
little
bit
with
the
other
panelists
about
what
is
going
on
now.
So
my
name
is
six,
so
cancel
I'm
the
founder
and
ceo
think
of
us
and
we
are
a
systems
change,
non-profit
that
looks
at
how
do
we
incubate
new,
bold
ideas
and
then
put
them
into
practice,
and
so
during
the
quarantine?
C
How
do
we
add
a
new
division
to
a
child
welfare
agency
in
one
state
that
would
think
differently
from
the
ground
up
one,
that's
equitable
one
that
looks
at
the
human
being
that's
at
the
table
for
with
their
race
with
their
orientation
with
every
aspect
of
their
identity.
That's
there,
so
I
thought
it'd
kick
off
by
always
showing
just
because
sometimes
when
we
talk
about
technology,
when
we
talk
about
tech
and
which
called
interventions
it,
it
could
be
a
little
difficult
to
kind
of
describe
these
things.
C
Awesome
so
I'll
start
off
by
saying
you
know
we
went
into
a
national
emergency
in
the
13th
of
march
13th
of
2020
and
by
the
19th
we
were
able
to
host
the
a
town
hall
with
the
associate
commissioner,
jerry
milner,
and
what
was
unique
about
this
town
hall
was
the
fact
that
it
was
not
only
just
one
of
the
first
town
halls
that
happened.
It
was
the
first
time
how
that
happened
across
the
federal
agencies.
C
C
What's
the
need
that
you
perceive
that
you
see
coming
up
and
what
we
were
able
to
do
with
that
data
was
to
gather
those
1600
responses
and
put
them
through
software
and
let
the
software
rank
it
and
one
of
the
things
that
came
up
as
number
one,
as
the
number
one
issue
was
food
and
in
the
first
week
of
the
when
we,
when
we
had
declared
a
national
emergency,
we
still
hadn't
seen
a
lot
of
shutdowns.
At
that
point.
C
C
One
of
the
things
that
we
also
realized
here
was
that
there
were
so
many
people
that
were
going
to
have
to
make
decisions
so
quickly
about
what
are
the
things
that
they
have
to
make
choices
on
to
operate
in
this
new
world
and
we
immediately
kind
of
thought
to
ourselves.
Well
the
best
folks
to
learn
some
great
policy
ideas
from
great
short-term
interventions
from
are
your
peers,
and
so
we
launched
a
command
center
and
the
idea
here
was
for
us
not
to
kind
of
figure
out
all
the
problems
ourselves.
C
But
how
is
it
that
we
would
be
able
to
go
ahead
and
highlight
some
of
the
questions
or
some
of
the
things
that
folks
were
going
through
and
then
lift
them
up?
So
folks
be
agencies
trying
to
figure
out?
How
is
it
that
I
get
technology
devices
to
my
foster
families
right?
It's
one
thing
for
the
commissioner
to
be
able
to
go
ahead
and
release
some
flexibilities.
C
But
how
does
that
look
in
practice
so
being
able
to
document
an
easy
way
for
folks
to
understand
that,
but,
more
importantly,
being
able
just
to
have
access
to
how
others
were
doing
it?
So
the
band
on
young
people,
aging
out
of
foster
care,
was
some
of
the
most
monumental
and
moving
stuff
that
I
saw
and
being
able
to
see
how
being
able
to
collect
those
resources
from
other
areas.
So
that
folks
can
come
here
come
here
and
see
and
see
the
stuff.
C
So
we
did
a
good
job
in
terms
of
like
when
I
say
we
as
an
ecosystem
to
start
thinking
about
the
needs,
but
I
want
to
just
get
a
little
bit
real
with
folks
and
really
start
to
say
that,
although
we
did
a
lot,
what
I
find
still
disturbing
and
what's
really
on
my
heart
and
just
you
know
it
is
like
I
said
this
is
the
pandemic.
Talking
is
my
new
slogan,
which
is
we
we
just
haven't
met
the
need
yet
like
we've
done
so
much
for
our
young
people.
C
But
yet
the
young
people
who
are
in
the
care
of
the
government
have
not
been
able
to
have
an
adequate
issue,
adequate
response,
in
my
opinion,
that
actually
needs
to
need.
Not
that
we're
not
trying,
but
in
this
case
trying
is,
is,
is
the
first
step,
but
it's
still
not
meeting
the
safety.
Nonetheless,
the
well-being
of
our
young
people,
and
so
those
are
very
clear
in
the
data,
and
I
can
start
like
I
love
data,
so
feel
free
to
follow
up
with
me.
C
So
I
can
show
you
some
of
dr
greeson's
work
and
things
of
that
nature.
The
other
thing
that
dawns
on
me
is
that
when
I
look
at
the
disparities
among
race,
when
I
look
at
the
disparity
among
young
people,
who
are
quote
quote
not
compliant,
it
really
bothers
me
and
I
have
to
say
we
have
to
question
our
policies.
There
was
a
young
man
in
connecticut.
He
was
supposed
to
be
doing
his
he
was
quote
quote.
C
So
I
just
kind
of
want
to
bring
into
the
room
the
importance
right
now
of
really
pushing
forward
on
on
this
issue
of
child
welfare,
in
a
way
that
we're
probably
should
look
at
it
differently
than
others.
The
unique
relationship
between
a
young
person
in
foster
care
and
the
government
is
that
you
are
at
one
point
we
were
removed
because
we
were
told
we
would
have
a
better
future.
C
A
A
E
E
I
left
foster
care
myself
for
a
friend
of
mine
and
just
have
continued
on
that
journey.
To
tell
you
a
little
bit
about
what
we
do,
I
can,
I
can
say
absolutely
all
the
things
that
cisco
said
has
resonated
here
in
alaska,
with
a
lot
of
the
challenges
that
young
people
have
been
facing
throughout
the
pandemic,
and
I
think
it's
shed
light
on
a
lot
of
gaps
in
our
system.
E
But
I
also
think
that
some
good
things
have
come
out
of
it
too,
in
terms
of,
like
our
at
least
our
state
government's
response
to
young
people
so
through
facing
foster
care
in
alaska,
we're
statewide
nonprofits.
We
have
young
people
in
and
from
foster
care
all
over
alaska
that
we
help
to
build
up
and
engage
them
in
advocacy.
So
every
year
we
bring
a
group
of
young
people
to
our
state
capitol
during
the
legislative
session.
E
It's
something
that
started
out
as
a
very
grassroots
effort
for
us
to
even
just
try
to
get.
You
know
like
airline
credits,
to
get
young
people
on
an
airplane
into
our
state
capitol
our
capital.
To
give
you
a
little
bit
of
perspective,
is
only
accessible
by
plane
or
boat.
So
it's
in
juneau,
alaska
and
so
traveling
from
a
very
rural
community.
Can
be
like
going
basically
from
like
europe
to
you
know
across
the
country
to
try
to
get
somewhere,
so
it
can
take
multiple
days,
it's
very
expensive.
E
It
could
involve
bush
planes
and
snow
machines
and
four
wheelers
and
things
like
that,
and
so
we
make
a
big
effort
to
get
young
people
into
our
capital
and
engaging
with
lawmakers
every
year
as
we
host
an
event
every
year
during
session.
So
we
do
a
lot
of
youth,
led
advocacy
meeting
with
our
state
government
leadership
as
well,
and
then
training.
We
do
training
all
year
round
where
young
people
come
in
and
actually
talk
to
all
incoming
child
protection
staff.
We
have
an
entire
day.
E
That's
dedicated
it's
older
youth
day
where
young
people
come
in
and
engage
with
new
child
protection
staff
and
then
sort
of
by
default.
We
become
this
network
of
peer
support
where
young
people
just
find
this
connection,
and
I've
found
this
really
strong
connection
to
just
engaging
with
other
people
who
have
who've
been
in
the
system
and
who've
experienced
a
lot
of
the
same
challenges,
and
so
in
a
lot
of
ways.
We
just
lean
on
each
other
and
build
each
other
up,
and
we've
created
sort
of
this.
E
So
our
education
and
training
voucher
program.
We
have
three
different
types
of
tuition,
waivers
at
this
point
for
public
university,
our
private
university,
and
then
we
have
some
state
funded
tuition,
assistance
that
our
young
people
helped
to
to
lobby
our
legislature.
For
so
that's
kind
of
it
about
me
I'll.
Wait
till
there's
more
questions
coming
from
nina
and
pass
it
on
to
the
next
introduction.
A
D
Yes,
before
I
start
I
do
want
to
apologize.
There
is
construction
going
on
outside,
so
I'm
going
to
try
my
best
to
be
as
loud
as
I
can
so
everybody
can
hear
me.
My
name
is
galileo
carrasco
and
I'm
a
part
of
think
of
us
as
well,
and
you
know
really
here.
I
want
to
share
my
personal
experiences,
I'm
currently
19
years
old,
so
I
am
a
non-minor
dependent
still
in
foster
care
and
the
way
that
I
view
you
know,
transforming
the
foster
care
system.
It's
a
collective!
It's
it's
collective
work
right!
D
It's
about
our
foster,
youth,
our
our
young
adults
in
the
system.
Our
legislators
are
everybody
right,
we're
all
doing
this
work
together.
So
I'm
going
to
be
sharing
my
experiences
and
also
connecting
it
to
some.
I
guess
some
ways
that
I
could
I
could
say
things
changing
just
so
we
can
make
life
a
bit
easier.
D
I
was
actually
in
a
hospital
getting
some
some
exams
done
for
seizures
and
I
had
been
told
that
when
I
was
going
to
go
back
to
where
I
was
living,
I
needed
to
be
monitored,
but
the
day
that
I
got
released
from
the
hospital
I
was
actually
on
a
plane
to
mexico
to
be
monitored,
because
I
wasn't
going
to
be
able
to
get
the
right
type
of.
I
guess
help
back
at
the
dorms,
because
every
no
one
was
going
to
be
there
right.
Everything
closed
the
garden
scholars
program.
D
That's
there
to
help
foster
youth
closed
and
I
was
left
to
wonder
what
was
I
going
to
do.
I
stopped
receiving
treatment
with
my
primary
provider,
my
neurologist
my
medical
team.
The
hospital
was
no
longer
able
to
follow
up
with
me
because
things
were
changing
very
quickly.
That
happened
in
march
from
the
second
week
of
march.
All
the
way
up
until
I
believe,
maybe
mid-may
I
had
been
in
about
more
than
five
different
placements
moving
between
different
counties.
So
what
does
that
happen?
Right?
D
I
stopped
being
able
to
get
my.
I
I
stopped
being
able
to
use
insurance
from
san
francisco.
Therefore,
my
access
to
treatment
became
very
unstable.
There
was
a
very
huge
increase
in
my
episodes
of
with
my
seizures
with
my
mental
health,
my
ptsd
symptoms,
because
I
was
constantly
moving
between
placements,
and
on
top
of
that,
I
wasn't
able
to
get
the
adequate
resources,
because,
by
the
time
I
had
moved
to
a
different
county,
the
previous
county's
insurance
had
just
kicked
in.
D
So
I
was
constantly
like
stepping
on
actions
I
felt
like
I
was
you
know,
running
against
time
and
trying
to
find
my
footing
and
the
way
that
I
look
at
this
is
well
okay,
there
is
an
instability
in
and
where
I'm
living,
okay,
there
is
stability
in
my
treatment,
but
why
well
when
we
look
at
medicaid
medi-cal
is,
is
under
medicaid
and
that's
the
primary
provider
for
foster
youth.
So
my
thinking
was,
you
know
what
what
could
change
or
what
could
be
added
that
can
make
this
easier.
D
The
way
that
I
was
thinking
about
it
was
like,
maybe
like
sticking
with
your
insurance
insurance
of
origin.
So
my
life
was
in
san
francisco.
I
I
had
created
a
medical
team
up
there,
great
people,
but
because
of
the
pandemic
I
had
to
leave.
So
maybe
they
could
be
a
change
in
policy
where
we're
able
to
stay
with
our
providers
that
we
were
currently
at
before
the
pandemic
hit,
because
if
that
was
the
case,
it
would
have
been
so
much
easier.
D
I
was
finally
able
to
get
access
to
a
neurologist
in
june
when
I
had
been
meaning
to
see
one
since
march,
and
it
did
put
a
stump
on
my
treatment
and
you
know
even
even
getting
on
medication.
So
these
are
things
that
are
very
sensitive
and
it's
very
difficult,
especially
navigating
through
the
different
like
hoops
that
you
have
to
jump
through
being
in
foster
care
and
the
transition.
From
being
you
know
a
minor
to
now
an
automatic
dependent.
A
lot
of
that
falls
on
me
to
do.
D
Yes,
we
have,
you
know
social
workers,
but
at
the
same
time,
a
lot
it's
up
to
us
to
figure
it
out
most
of
the
time,
and
I
just
want
to
really
emphasize
like
being
in
the
being
in
foster
care
having
a
medical
diagnosis
and
also,
you
know
not
being
able
to
return
back
to
a
home.
It
was
really
difficult
to
do
before
I
left
to
san
francisco.
I
was
in
a
transitional
housing
program,
so
I
didn't
get
to
actually
return
back
home.
D
So
another
idea
that
I
had
was
issuing
maybe
emergency
housing,
a
lot
of
the
traditional
housing
for
for
young
adults
in
foster
care.
There
was
lists
and
lists
of
waiting
lists,
so
I
wasn't
able
to
get
into
anything
in
time.
So
maybe
it
is
having
some
type
of
emergency.
Housing
would
be
really
helpful
in
in
my
in
my
perspective,
but
I
just
wanted
to
come
on
here.
You
know
and
be
a
part
of
this
conversation
and
really
just
share
my
experiences
because
I
think
it
brings
it
brings
so
much
more.
A
You,
yes,
it
does.
Thank
you
so
much
galileo.
I
you
all
the
three
of
you
have
brought
up
lots
of
issues.
I'm
gonna.
You
know
just
remind
folks
that
the
chat
box
is
open
for
questions.
I'm
gonna
not
add
my
own
commentary,
but
turn
it
over
to
nina
so
nina.
Can
ask
you
a
few
questions
that
she's
prepared
for
you
all
and
we'll
just
continue
to
sit
back
and
learn
so
nina.
I'm
gonna
turn
it
back
over
to
you.
B
Great,
thank
you.
Thank
you.
That's
fantastic,
both
sixto
and
galileo.
Let
us
off
with
a
lot
of
great
details
about
some
of
the
ways
that
they've
been
impacted
by
covet
19,
and
I
wonder
if
we
could
talk
a
little
bit
more
about
that.
You
know.
Specifically,
we
heard
about
certainly
young
people
that
are
in
college
we've
heard
about
the
medical
issues,
some
of
the
housing,
certainly
food
insecurity.
B
What
are
some
of
the
other
ways
that
coleman
19
has
impacted
and
continues
to
impact
either
yourselves,
some
of
the
other
young
people
that
you
work
with
that
you'd
like
the
legislators
and
legislative
staff
and
the
audience
to
hear
about
that.
Maybe
they
haven't
thought
about
when
thinking
about
what
how
covet
19
is
impacting
everyone
in
their
state,
you're,
muted,
so.
C
Thank
you.
One
of
the
things
that
comes
top
to
mind
for
me
is
that
we
have
we.
There
was
a
group
of
young
people.
There
was
a
group
of
american
citizens
who
we
were
on
a
healing
journey
and
a
journey
to
figure
out
how
to
become
self-sufficient,
and
so
there
were
programs
in
place
like
the
independent
living
program
right.
C
There
are
programs
in
place
that
are
here
to
help
us
on
our
journey
of
healing
and
developing,
so
that
we
can
be
competitive
members
of
society,
and
this
pandemic
has
forced,
like
the
front
line,
social
workers,
front
line
staff
to
start
just
working
on
emergent
needs,
which
means
that
you
know
the
core
of
healing
through
and
dealing
with
your
trauma.
We're
not
really
working.
C
Because
what
we're
working
on
is
making
sure
you're
eating
making
sure
you're
your
placement
doesn't
get
disrupted,
making
sure
you're
still
housed,
and
so
I'm
very
very
concerned
that,
because
adolescents
and
young
adults
that
are
in
the
system
of
child
welfare,
it's
the
system's
responsibility
to
teach
them.
The
way
structure
is
the
way.
C
They
have
now
been
pushed
in
our
field
without
having
a
history
of
doing
a
lot
of
digital
engagement
to
be
digital,
and
so
one
of
the
things
that
we
found
was
that
we
have
just
a
lot
of
transferring
of
like
let's
just
get
on
zoom
to
do
the
work
it
just.
It
doesn't
work
that
way,
and
so
what
we
did
was
we
looked
at?
C
What
are
the
actual
tech
enabled
interventions
that
work
out
there
and
we
were
able
to
map
out
some
of
them,
and
so
what
the
first
thing
I
want
to
point
out
is
that
we've
only
had
we've
only
ever
had
mobile
apps
for
12
years.
It
might
feel
longer,
but
it's
only
been
12
years,
that's
one.
Secondly,
that
means
that
if
we've
only
ever
had
apps
for
12
years,
what
are
the
actual
tech
based
interventions
that
are
are
that
can
actually
work?
We
found
a
couple
of
them.
One
is
called
beyond
12..
C
They
coaching
people
from
the
beginning
of
their
inception
from
senior
year
of
high
school
all
the
way
through.
What's
it
called
college,
their
results
today,
the
97
000
yen
people
that
they've
coached
with
an
algorithm
plus
a
virtual
coach
that
talks
to
you
calls
you
checks
up
on.
You
is
that
85
of
the
youth
who've
been
coached
for
four
years
at
the
six
year
mark
graduate
or
are
still
in
school,
compared
to
the
national
average
of
42
percent.
C
They
don't
serve
any
foster
youth,
but
that's
amazing
results,
but
they
serve
first
generation
students.
So
I
called
them
and
said:
come
serve
our
young
people,
mental
health
beyond
12.
Excuse
me
mind
right.
It's
a
text-based
intervention,
where
it's
about
mental
health
coaches
that
are
not
full-fledged
therapeutic
interventions
to
be
therapy,
but
it's
the
step
right
before
there
that
you
have
your
own
mental
health
coach,
that's
talking
about
wellness
and
what
that
means
to
you
just
de-stigmatizing
what
it
might
mean
to
get
to
the
next
step,
73
response
rate
over
a
10-week
period.
C
It's
all
text
messages
that
is
absolutely
like
crazy
in
the
world,
because
85
percent
of
self-help
apps
stop
being
used
within
a
five-day
period
right.
The
m
relief
has
provided
a
hundred
excuse
me
has
provided
425
000
families
with
support
to
unlock
food
stamps
through
a
10
question
text,
message,
application
and
they're
in
44
states.
So
there's
these
efficiencies,
and
there
are
these
tech
interventions
that
provide
access
or
full-on
coaching
that
are
not
currently
reimbursable
that
are
not
currently
part
of
these
budgets.
C
That
states
have-
and
I
wonder,
if
not,
if
there's
a
way
that
we
can
actually
start
thinking
through
how
do
they
become
reimbursable,
because
that
text
message
intervention
now
the
private
sector
is
starting
to
go
ahead
and
reimburse
for
them,
because
they
saw
that
it
was
actually
reducing
the
number
of
hospitalizations
during
this
time.
So
there's
some
real
cost
savings
that
are
coming
out
of
some
people
who
are
doing
digital
interventions
before
call
bit
that
right
now
we
can
double
down
on
and
say,
actually
can
you
serve
our
most
vulnerable
populations?
C
Also,
we'll
help
you
get
adopted
to
fall
street,
we'll
help
you
get
adopted
to
juvenile
justice
youth,
let's
really
work
to
sit
and
to
figure
out
how
we
can
make
sure
that
those
programs
can
scale,
because
by
the
time
our
sector
gets
caught
up.
It's
going
to
be
another
couple
years
before
we
figure
out
efficiently
how
to
do
what
we've
been
doing
in
this
hybrid
mode
of
in
person,
not
in
person
and
I'll
go
ahead
and
start
putting
some
of
these
right
into
the
chat,
because
I
see
that
folks
are
asking
about
those.
B
E
We
have
a
lot
of
boarding
schools
here,
and
so
we
saw
this
first
wave
where
dorm
housing
started
to
shut
down.
First,
we
saw
it
across
the
country.
I
just
saw
on
social
media,
like
all
these
young
people
are
having
to
leave
their
college
campuses,
and
so
we
sort
of
jumped
on
it
and
I
think,
we're
fortunate
in
being
sort
of
like
a
big
small
state,
and
then
our
population
is
smaller
and
there's
a
lot
of
personal
relationships.
E
So
I
just
called
the
director
of
dorm
housing
at
our
public
university
and
said,
like
hey
like
what's
up
and
he
said
yeah
we're
gonna,
we're
gonna
close,
but
we're
making
very
specific
exceptions
and
they
were
able
to.
Actually
our
public
university
made
an
exception
for
all
foster
youth
to
remain
on
campus,
which
I'm
really
grateful
for.
E
But
for
us
we
use
a
lot
of
social
media
or
offer
opportunities
for
young
people
to
connect
with
other
young
people
through
texting
through
snapchat
through
other,
like
you
know,
online
type
groups,
and
so
that
was
one
sort
of
big
thing.
Another
one
like
just
around
the
foster
home
issue
also
so
to
give
you
a
little
context,
we
have
our
numbers
are
lower
cause.
Our
population
is
smaller.
We
have
about
3,
000
children
and
youth
in
foster
care
statewide.
We
have
1400
foster
homes,
but
a
number
of
foster
homes.
E
If
you
have
foster
parents
or
children
who
already
had
their
own
medical
issues,
maybe
they
were
older
or
they
had
respiratory
issues.
Things
like
that.
They
were
not
going
to
allow
children
to
be
placed
in
their
home
because
they
were
worried
about
children
coming
in
who
maybe
had
been
exposed
to
covid,
but
also
we
had
a
lot
of
teenagers.
E
I
guess
you
could
say
blowing
out
right
because
they
just
couldn't
stand
to
just
be
sitting
in
this
home,
or
maybe
it
was
a
new
placement
or
maybe
they
had
to
leave
job
corps
and
now
they're
with
strangers
and
they're
struggling
to
adapt
to
this
new
environment
and
the
foster
parents
wanted
them
to
quarantine.
So
we've
seen
a
lot
of
that,
and
now
young
people
who
are
being
placed
in
anchorage
is
our
largest
community.
Half
our
foster
care
population
and
our
just
general
population
is
here
so
covenant
house
is
our
main
youth
shelter.
E
So
you
saw
a
lot
of
teens
starting
to
go
to
covenant
house,
but
now
they
have
positive
covid
cases,
and
so
we
started
to
have
conversations
with
our
young
people
about
placement
at
the
shelter.
If
that's
not
somewhere,
they
want
to
go
in
the
state,
putting
them
in
harm's
way
and
maybe
them
talking
to
an
attorney
about
their
own
safety
around
you
know
being
placed
in
an
environment
that
could
actually
make
them
sick.
So
those
have
been
just
incredible
challenges.
E
E
So
we
had
a
number
of
young
people
shopping
for
apartments
or
waiting
to
get
into
places,
but
now
that's
already
hard
enough
to
try
to
figure
out
the
process
of
finding
an
apartment,
signing
a
lease
all
that
goes
along
with
that
maybe
you're
riding
the
bus
to
get
places
the
bus
has
shut
down.
Maybe
a
young
person
had
a
job
at
like
a
fast
food
place
or
the
grocery
store.
E
E
State
agency,
you
know,
there's
like
red
tape
to
be
able
to
do
that,
and
we
also
did
a
bunch
of
and
we're
still
doing,
e-gift
cards
for
things
like
food,
so
we're
able
to
transfer
you
know
through
email
or
through
text
they
can
get
to
the
grocery
store.
We
can
send
them
lift
credits,
so
they
can
go
purchase
food
if
they
absolutely
need
it
or
we're
doing
a
lot
of
doordash.
E
So
you
can
have
food
delivered
if
they
can't
get
out
and
maybe
they
still
are
in
the
dorms
and
also
additional
challenges.
We
have
schools
starting
here
august
24th
for
for
college
again.
So
again,
our
university
has
made
exceptions.
We've
had
youth
that
have
remained
on
campus
all
summer
and
I
think
we've
been
really
fortunate
in
that
way
and
they're
allowing
youth.
We
had
a
one
young
person
that
our
public
university
just
let
him
move
on
campus.
They
have
no
paperwork
ready.
E
The
dorms
aren't
really
ready
unless
students
have
already
been
there,
they
just
let
him
move
on
campus,
and
so
we
tried.
We
started
a
fundraiser
through
facebook,
we
raised
eight
thousand
dollars,
so
we
could
purchase
things
to
get
him
set
up
and
ready
to
be
able
to
again.
It's
like
that.
Isolation
he's
still
alone
in
his
dorm
classes
are
online.
Food
is
a
challenge
we
pushed.
I
know
this
is
the
next
question,
but
we
pushed
pretty
heavily
on
our
governor.
I
first
saw
illinois.
E
I
think
it
was
extended
care
beyond
21
and
allowed
youth
to
not
age
out,
and
so
we
pushed
on
our
governor
to
extend
foster
care
beyond
21
and
he's
been
issuing
emergency
orders
on
a
monthly
basis,
but
it
started
in
april.
He
sent
it
through
may
through
june
july.
We
just
got
the
august
and
we're
hoping
that
the
state
will
continue
to
do
that.
E
Our
I
think
we
were
fortunate
also
in
that
the
foundation
was
sort
of
already
laid
out
for
a
lot
of
young
people
to
have
at
least
some
safety
net.
Our
youth,
you
know,
educated
our
legislators
and
really
worked
to
beef
up
services
and
supports
for
the
independent
living
program
long
before
any
of
this
happened
and
then
also
move
toward.
E
E
It
has
to
go
through
really
extensive
efforts
here
to
give
a
young
person
the
goal
of
appla,
so
the
state
has
to
make
a
lot
of
effort
to
try
to
find
a
permanent
family
or
permanent
option,
and
then
it
has
to
go
to
the
director
of
our
state
agency
to
sign
off.
So
a
few
years
ago
we
went
from
hundreds
of
youth
aging
out
to
there
were
only
12
young
people
with
an
apple
goal.
So
there
was
all
this.
E
E
So
when
it
came
time
to
ask
for
care
beyond
21,
we
only
had
14
youth
that
were
said
to
age
out.
During
that
time
frame-
and
initially
the
response
was
well,
it's
only
14.,
even
if
it
were
one,
we
should
still
allow
them
to
to
remain
in,
but
I
think
because
of
our
state's
response
prior
and
also
for
extended,
foster
care.
E
Our
state
didn't
take
the
option,
the
federal
option,
and
so
we
didn't
have
all
these
requirements
of
young
people
being
in
higher
education
or
in
jobs
to
remain
in
extended,
foster
care
already.
It
was
a
lot
looser,
and
so
I
think
we're
also
fortunate
in
that
way
and
alaska
tries
to
sometimes,
I
think,
reject
federal
policy
and
sort
of
we
do
our
own
thing,
but
it's
it's
worked
well
for
you.
B
D
Yeah
and
I'm
just
adding
a
bit
more
context
to
when
it
comes
to
being
like
a
foster
youth
in
college.
We
do
have
you
know,
access
to
the
garden,
scholars,
programs,
renaissance
programs,
but
it's
it's
way
beyond.
Just
having
you
know,
like
our
case
manager,
you
get
it
say
you
get
a
safe
space
being
at
college.
You
know
so
already
like
statistically
you've
seen
that
it's
the
numbers
are
fairly
low
for
foster
youth,
getting
going
into
higher
education
and
even
receiving
a
degree.
D
So
when
I
was
there,
it
was
really
nice
and
my
school
has
almost
about.
I
want
to
say
27
to
29
000
students
and
out
of
that
number
about
only
92
are
foster
youth,
so
it
was
a
beautiful
thing
to
be
able
to
connect
with
other.
You
know,
fellow
foster,
youth
in
my
school,
seeing
them
in
the
lounge
just
going
to
take
a
nap
after
a
really
hard
day
at
school,
and
then,
when
the
pandemic
hit
it
was.
It
was
just
so
rubbed
how
the
community
just
ended.
D
You
know
you
you
can
try
and
and
move
it
in
into
a
digital
space,
but
you
know,
but
you
no
longer
have
the
the
option
to
go
into
the
lounge
or
go
into
your
case
manager's
office,
and
you
know
just
pretty
much
let
everything
out,
because
it
was
very
overwhelming
and
going
back
to
like
re.
I
guess
just
emphasizing
what
sister
was
saying
about
the
mental
health
portion.
I
can
say
for
me
and
as
well
for
a
fellow
friends
of
mine
who
are
in
care
as
well.
It
did
it
have.
D
It
definitely
took
a
toll
on
our
mental
health
because
we
no
longer
had
access
to
those
safe
spaces.
So
what
exactly
is
your
state
space?
How
are
you
able
to
recreate
that?
And
that's
just
something
that
I
see
happening
right
now.
That's
a
bit
tricky
with
and
it
happened
with
when
when
covet
hit.
But
that
was
another
point
that
I
just
wanted
to
emphasize
and
and
it's
happening
even
now,
the
the
are.
D
I
cannot
speak
anymore
like
I
have
so
many
thoughts
going
through
my
head,
but
for
this
semester
our
school
will
once
again
be
close.
So
therefore,
the
the
office,
the
the
program
space,
is
also
going
to
be
closed
as
well
and
and
we
no
longer
still
access
to
that
community.
So
I
guess
the
question
is:
how
do
you
still
reinvent
that
safe
space?
You
know
what
and
what
needs
to
change
and
how
do
we
still
keep
our
foster
youth
in
college
connected?
B
Wow,
that's
fantastic
now,
I'd
just
like
to
ask
you
all
to
share
with
us
and
you've
already
started
doing
this
a
couple
of
strategies
that
you've
seen
that
have
worked
successfully.
Six
stones
talked
about
the
tech
and
I
think
that's
just
that's
just
mind-boggling.
That's
just
incredible
and
some
of
the
things
that
have
been
done
in
alaska.
If
you
all
could
respond
a
bit
more,
some
strategies
that
you've
seen
that
you
know
other
states
might
think
about.
C
E
That's
yeah,
that's
fine,
so
I
think,
in
terms
of
like
strategies
to
to
respond
to
youth,
I
had
mentioned
that
the
care
beyond
21
and
then
just
resources
without
red
tape,
and
so
that
was
like
our
response
and
being
able
to
just
send
things
to
young
people
gift
cards.
We
have
a
laptop
program,
so
we
match
young
people
with
laptops
all
across
the
state.
They
just
basically
fill
out
an
online
form
with
their
name
and
address
and
we
send
it
to
them.
No
questions.
E
E
E
This
fall
that
don't
want
to
take
courses
because
they're
worried
about
being
successful
online,
but
if
they
were
to
continue,
you
know
beyond
their
break
or
beyond
fall,
they
would
graduate
and
so
we're
trying
to
allow
them
that
exception
or
that
opportunity,
and
so
we're
just
waiting
on
an
answer
back,
but
really,
just
like
you
know
getting
rid
of
all
these
weird
eligibility
rules.
We
have
for
everything
whether
it's
financial
aid
access
to
technology,
access
to
different
housing
options
for
group
homes,
vocational
technical
programs
placements
there's
all
these
expiration
dates
with
regard
to
age.
C
You
know
one
of
the
things
that
come
to
mind
for
me
when
I
think
about
the
next
policy,
where
we're
at
as
a
country
is
that
I
had
to
take
a
moment
and
say:
okay
beyond
foster
care.
What
we
are
in
is
a
situation
where
states
and
the
federal
government.
We
have
budgets
budgets
that
are
unbalanced,
really
big
disparities
and,
what's
going
to
happen
to
communities
right,
and
so
I
was
thinking
hard
about.
C
How
is
it
that
we
could
go
ahead
and
not
experience
some
of
some
of
those?
Some
of
those
like
incur
those
costs,
because
literally
the
state
can't
afford
it,
and
so
I
talked
to
you
about
part
one
which
was
this
idea
of.
There
are
digital
interventions
out
there
that
work
that
have
some
promising
data
behind
them.
C
I
think
the
second
piece
here
is
that,
in
order
to
have
meaningful
interventions
that
avoid
a
young
person
going
from,
you
know,
aging
out
to
pipelining
straight
into
prison,
pipelining
to
another
governmental
services
or
governmental
emergency
service,
right
spending
that
one
night
at
the
emergency
room,
because
I
don't
have
a
place
to
sleep
right,
which
we
hear
from
our
young
people.
It's
having
this
idea
of
a
peer
navigator.
C
Someone
who
has
gone
through
the
system
knows
very
well,
not
all
the
resources
in
a
system,
but
they
know
one
thing
very
well,
which
is
how
to
do
the
application
say
the
things
that
they
need
to
to
navigate
it,
because
to
streamline
all
of
our
benefits
might
be
very
difficult
at
this
moment,
and
so
we
thought
we're
testing.
This
idea,
out
of
peer
navigators,
show
up
and
they
are
the
ones
who
help
help
the
frontline
staff
relieve
them
from
spending
their
time
on
all
the
emerging
things
that
are
coming
up.
C
You
know,
hud
voucher,
accomplishing
that
food
stamp
application
so
that
now
we're
putting
money
into
the
economy
by
hiring
more
people.
Let's
keep
that
going.
Secondly,
we're
making
sure
that
that
pipeline
doesn't
drop
just
because
the
services
have
been
offered
and
thank
god
there
are
some
resources
out
there.
It
doesn't
mean
it's
accessing
them
is
the
easiest
pathway
and
when
we're
navigating
all
of
these
other
issues
and
all
these
other
populations
that
need
support,
I
can't
imagine
that,
like
redesigning
some
of
the
things
that
we
need
is
the
first
thing
on
people's
list
right
now.
C
So
how
might
we
be
able
to
engage
so
that
then
we
are
looking
at
a
situation
where
a
peer
navigator
is
helping
you
get
that
rental
assistant
is
helping.
You
know
that
there's
this
internet
deal
that
you
can
get
if
you
file,
showing
that
you
have
low
income
right
things
of
that
nature.
So
then,
that
way,
the
people
who
are
working
on
the
long-term
intervention
to
making
you
self-sufficient
and
heal
that
they're
able
to
focus
on
that
piece.
B
Great,
that's
fantastic!
You've
all
given
us
just
extremely
great
examples
and
rich
insight
that
I
think
will
be
helpful
for
lawmakers.
We
do
have
some
questions
from
the
audience
and
I'm
going
to
turn
this
back
over
to
donna
and
it
could
probably
get
some
more
things
that
you
wanted
to
bring
out
as
well.
A
You
know
lots
of
stuff
and
it
may
be
the
same,
and
so,
if
you
don't
have
anything
additional,
don't
feel
free,
you
know,
don't
don't
feel
compelled
to
you
know,
make
it
anything
up
in
addition,
but
if
you
had
just
you
know,
maybe
one
little
nugget
you
want
to
want
to
leave
on
the
minds
of
lawmakers
as
we
start
to
wrap
up
what
what
would
that
be
and
amanda
I'll
start
with
you,
then
I'll,
let
you
ping
it
over
to
sidstow
and
galileo
I'll.
Let
you
wrap
us
up
how
about
that.
E
Sounds
great
in
terms
of
what
what
lawmakers
can
do,
I
think
bringing
young
people
to
the
table.
I
think
that
you
can
listen
to
administrators.
You
can
listen
to
agency
heads
we've
been
again
really
fortunate
in
alaska
that
on
both
sides
of
major
parties
in
in
our
state
government
for
years
and
years,
they've
listened
to
young
people.
We
also
live
in
a
state
where
it's
small
enough,
you
might
see
your
representative
or
your
center
in
the
grocery
store,
but
they've
created
safe
spaces
for
young
people
and
have
really
genuinely
engaged.
E
We've
had
state
lawmakers
that
have
individually
mentored
young
people
have
offered
up
internships,
but
it's
become
this
really
solution
focused
opportunity,
but
it's
also
given
youth
the
opportunity
to
grow
and
to
develop.
I
was
mentored
heavily
by
a
state
lawmaker
who
was
also
a
former
foster
youth,
and
I
learned
some
pretty
basic
life
skills
about
things
even
just
like
showing
up
on
time
and
how
to
you
know
like
be
a
professional
and
sit
in
a
professional
setting
in
a
meeting.
E
But
at
the
same
time
like
I
didn't
realize
I
was
getting
all
these
things
out
of
it
all,
while
like
transforming
the
system
as
well
and
so
giving
young
people
those
opportunities
to
come
to
the
table
in
person
virtually
during
session.
But
to
offer
up
solutions
because
young
people
know
best
we're.
You
know
lost
people,
the
ones
that
are
living
and
breathing
it
every
day
and
so
should
be
asked
for
the
solution.
C
Final
thing
here
is
that
currently
there
is
a
bill
on
the
hill.
I
was
trying
to
go
through
my
email
as
quick
as
I
can
follow
up,
but
there
is
a
bill
that
just
dropped
last
week
and
it's
about
providing
some
of
this
emergency
relief
and
it's
about
making
sure
that
some
of
these
issues
are
addressed
and
so
to
the
extent
that
you
can
support
it
and
like
work
with
your
constituents
and
work
with
your
representatives
to
help
push
that
through.
C
That
is
the
only
thing
right
now
that
is
on
the
hill,
for
us
that's
exclusively
tailored,
so
that
would
be
helpful
and
then,
as
you
think,
about
solutions
that
go
further,
I
think
about
solutions
that
put
our
young
people
to
work.
Put
our
young
people
in
school.
There
is
nothing
much
more
important
right
now
than
work
school
and
mental
health.
So,
to
the
extent
that
we
can
make
those
three
three
problems
easier.
We
can
do
a
lot
of
good,
not
just
for
our
population
but
for
the
country.
D
Yeah,
it
was
doing
so
great
without
the
construction,
and
now
here
we
are,
but
I
just
really
want
to
emphasize
what
amanda
was
saying
about.
You
know
our
youth,
our
young
adults
in
the
system
having
to
sit
at
that
table
and
what
I've
said
before
it's
it's
kind
of
afraid.
I
say:
is
you
never
really
know?
D
What's
going
on
until
you
bring
someone
who's
really
been
in
the
trenches,
you
know
and
really
going
through
every
every
obstacle
in
those
barriers
because,
as
as
you've
heard,
although
we
are
all
in
in
well,
although
we
are
all
in
the
same
system,
we
all
face
different
barriers,
you
know
not.
Everybody
has
a
medical
condition,
not
everybody
is
dual
status
and
juvenile
justice
and
foster
care.
So
it's
really
important
to
bring
in
these
young
adults
to
bring
in
these
youth.
A
Thank
you
to
the
three
of
you.
We
are
very
grateful
for
your
personal
stories.
Your
testimonies,
your
accounts,
I
gotta
turn
it
over
to
nina
so
nina
can
do
our
final
sort
of
wrap
up,
but
if
you
want
to
drop
anything
additional
in
the
in
the
chat
while
nina's
just
sort
of
wrapping
us
up,
I
thank
you
all
so
much.
You
have
put
the
the
end
of
our
series
in
a
very
helpful
place.
So
thank
you
so
much
so
nina.
It
is
all
yours,
final
minute.
Okay,
fantastic.
B
You
all
have
been
just
phenomenal.
I
just
want
to
point
to
ncsl
resources
on
human
services
and
covert
19
child
welfare,
we're
also
tracking
any
legislation
introduced
or
passed
related
to
covet,
19
and
other
resources,
and
we
have
a
great
couple
of
websites
on
older
youth
in
care
of
50
state
charts,
a
maps
easy
to
access
a
50
state
data
map.
B
A
A
B
B
B
C
I
see
there's
a
few
people
left,
but
I
was
just
gonna
ask:
is
it
pop?
I
just
sent
the
document
with
the
talking
points
in
the
link
to
the
actual
the
bill
for
the
means
of
weddings
kind
of
summary
of
it.
I
don't
know
if
that
was
possible
to
send
to
people,
but
I
know
they're
trying
to
draw
up
start
seeing
that
that
is
something
that
might
be
voted
on
quite
soon.