Youth Advisory Boards in Ohio

During the month of July, the Montgomery County VISION Board, adult supporters Doris Edelmann and Stacia Burlingame and Ohio FCAA chair Lisa Dickson led a series of YAB trainings in Ohio's Northwest, Southeast and Northeast regions.

The trainings were a huge success, as a result, Athens, Portage, Stark and Lucas County are each in the process of creating their own youth advisory boards!

Ohio benefits greatly from the vision of the V.I.S.I.O.N. Board:




















We look forward to seeing A.C.T.I.O.N. in Athens! (Athens County Together in Overcoming Negatives)

















We all, including TAGyc, Cleveland's YAB, plan to support Stark County youth in their focus on L.A.F. (Living After Fostercare)

Meeting Cororado Governor Bill Ritter in person

Photo of Gov. Bill Ritter with Lisa

Lisa Dickson had the privilege of meeting Colorado Governor Bill Ritter in person this week at the Many Voices, One Vision Colorado Summit on Children, Youth and Families.

This conference is both the 17th annual Colorado Child Welfare Conference and the 8th annual Judicial Family Issues conference.

The conference attracted over a thousand participants.

Lisa Dickson, Amanda Dunlap and Amanda Keller of Foster Care Alumni of America presented two concurrent workshops on "Demystifying Emotional Resiliency."

Our audience included: judges, lawyers, guardians ad litem, CASA volunteers, social workers, caseworkers and foster parents.

Each of Colorado's 22 judicial districts were represented, and had to post concrete evidence of what they were doing to help children and families.

The focus areas were: Permanency, Safety and Well-Being.



The judicial participants in this conference were there because they believe in front-end solutions and are willing to dedicate their time and efforts toward generating lasting, positive change.

As one judicial staff member eloquently stated, "It's cheaper in the long run to do things right up front.

"What I say about government is that there's never enough time and money to do it right, but there is always time and money to do it over."

Keynote presentation at Daniel Memorial Foster Parent Conference, May 2008

The title of Lisa Dickson's keynote presentation at the Daniel Memorial Foster Care Conference was "Life Without Limits: Exceeding Expectations for Former Foster Care Youth."

Below are some quotes from her presentation... The theme was ordinary heroes, and the purpose was to improve outcomes for foster care youth and alumni.

"When faced with extraordinary odds, we need ordinary heroes... and the opportunity to become one of those heroes exists for every person in this room. Each one of you have the opportunity to make a lasting and positive impact when it comes to foster care.

"The lady who introduced me did a wonderful job of listing my credentials. But, just like every person in this room, there are layers to who I am. I could tell you that I am a wife and a mother – and that would work. That would be a safe answer.

"I could tell you that I am a stepmother, and that would reveal a little more about me. Those of you who are stepparents or foster parents know the challenges of defining your role. You’re not the “real” parent – so, are you allowed to discipline? You’re not the “real” parent,” so what if the biological parents don’t always respect your rules?

"But – what if I told you that I was a foster child? What are the first images that come up in your mind when you consider that as part of my background? How does that change the way that you see me?

"Does it make me more or less credible? Just as foster parents are often perceived as either saints or sinners, telling someone that you are a former foster child can open up a Pandora’s Box of preconceived notions. Am I 'Annie' or 'Ellen Foster?' Or, am I the latest perpetrator on CSI?

"It is never quite that simple and straight-forward, is it? What if I told you that, after aging out of foster care, I struggled along the way? What if I admitted to making dumb decisions that I am ashamed of now?

" I could tell you, in my softest voice that, even though I made it to college, and earned degrees from both college and graduate school, along the way, there were many times when I was discouraged, and ready-willing-and-able to make any number of the same stupid mistakes that most young people make along the way.

"So, help me here: At what point was I a statistic? And when exactly did I become a survivor?

"Because, we all know that there are dire foster care statistics - and they tell us what to expect, don’t they? Most of those studies focus primarily on teenagers and young people in their 20s. In a sense foster care youth are taught what to expect from themselves, and the adults in their lives are given preconceived notion of what to expect from them. I believe those expectations are too low.

"Those statistics tell us that we stand a great chance of being homeless, incarcerated, unemployed, uneducated and uninsured. We are at higher risk of sexual promiscuity, unplanned pregnancy and carrying on the cycle with our own children of neglect, abuse or abandonment.

"But is that all we are? Does that truly define what we are capable of? Are we just a case number?

"Or can we be empowered? There are 12 million foster care alumni in the United States. We are not children. We are not teenagers. We are adults – and we represent a formerly invisible population.

"We are the consumers of the child welfare system - and listening to our voices will provide child welfare professionals with insights that are not available elsewhere. As adults, we have had time to reflect upon our experiences and make sense of them.

Because of our personal and professional experiences, we are uniquely aware of the challenges faced by young people in and from foster care. We have first-hand knowledge what it is like to age out of care and navigate the adult world.

"The idea behind consumer movements is that the consumers of a service should be involved in its design and delivery, and should be given opportunities to evaluate their experience. We are the consumers of foster care, and any time that a new law is passed that effects foster care, it needs our input.

"Similar movements include: the civil rights movement, women's suffrage, the disability rights movement, the faith movement and GLTBQ.

"There comes a time when we need to stand up and be counted. After all, where would the civil rights movement have been without Martin Luther King Jr.? Where would the women’s rights movement have been without Elizabeth Cady Stanton? Where would the disability rights movement be without Ed Roberts?

"But Martin Luther King Jr. didn't start out being MLK. The 2007 It's My Life conference took place in Atlanta, Georgia, and a group of us were able to take a trip to see his birthplace. Have any of you ever been there? Martin Luther King started out as an ordinary hero with humble beginnings.

"The foster care movement started in Canada, inspired the development of CYC in California, and led to the development of alumni groups and youth advisory boards in various states.

"The collective voice of former foster children all over the nation, and their allies within the child welfare system, is currently being shared through membership and involvement in Foster Care Alumni of America.

"Rather than simply celebrating those who 'beat the odds,' it is time for all of us to work together to change those statistics for the better:

- Do we want to change the homelessness rate? Well, then it's time to invest in youth housing.

- Are we concerned about emancipated youth lacking medical insurance? Then, it's time to extend Medicaid to age 21 years old for former foster care youth.

"But making these resources available is not enough. It is only the first step. Young people need to know that these services are out there. And they will often need assistance in navigating Medicaid, college entrance and the myraid of other mazes that exist in the adult world."

Grace testifying at the hearing

When Gabe told me that his sister Grace was a talented public speaker, I had no idea just how fabulous she was. She had that room mesmerized. I wish you could have heard her...

She had practiced sharing ahead of time, so that her inflections and pauses perfectly matched what she was saying.

In between sharing her brother's testimony and sharing her own, Grace didn't just reel off a list of her brother's credentials, she said in an affectionate voice, "My brother is..." and with each of his accomplishments, you could hear the pride ringing in her voice.

It was beautiful...

Adoptee Testimony on Bill 7

Grace Hilliard's personal testimony at the Columbus Statehouse, April 30, 2008

In the state of Ohio, when a child is adopted, their birth certificate is permanently altered. Legally, it is acceptable to lie, to forge a medical document. Why is this so? Because the law, a supposed means of affirming truth and justice has directed it so for over forty years.

What does this look like on paper? It means the parental names, information and age are fraudulent. To a bystander this may not appear to have deep consequences for a baby. I assure you there are. For an older child, for me who’d accumulated ten years of history prior to being adopted, this piece of paper resonated as insulting and absurd. In this situation and others where the child knows very well the identity of biological parents and siblings the violation feels much more preposterous.

What are the results of this horribly constructed band-aid of a lie? For starters, if siblings are separated, they are no longer related. A victim of such a circumstance cannot list their brother or sister as next of kin. Health records also become very difficult or impossible to attain if the biological parents are allowed to remain anonymous. Wrongfully, the government has legalized lying to people under the justification of privacy protection.

When a child is adopted their name is changed permanently to the name of the adoptive parents. In many cases, when the situation goes awry, the adoptee can never escape identification with the adoptive parents.

Thus far in Ohio, a name change offers no relief of this haunting reminder. In Ohio, a personal name change holds less credibility than a government falsification on a medical document.

Let’s go back to the issue of privacy. When a person engages in procreation, they should be held accountable for the ramifications. Through a person’s irresponsibility, they have already forfeited a ‘right’ to privacy. It is in no way the government’s responsibility to enable a lie which rewards the irresponsible procreation, the neglect or the abuse of children by denying adoptees the right to information about their identity as a human being.

Furthermore, the government should not be allowing adoptive parents, as wonderful as they are the option of lying to their children, concerning their origination, simply because the adoptive parents may feel threatened or insecure about their identity as a parent.

Go back with me if you will, to when you were ten years old. You’re with your brothers and sisters, maybe even an only child. Picture you’re with your family. You know who your parents are. It has become abundantly clear that your parents are incapable of raising you.

Everyone is gathered in your life, your brothers, sisters, extended family, parents and foster parents. They have all come together to see you, one last time, on this tragically beautiful spring day to say good-bye. You hug your baby brother good-bye, not fully comprehending what fourteen years without him will mean. You’ve not even experienced fourteen years of life. No, you’re not dying although maybe inside you feel this to be the case.

Fast forward with me to the bang of the gavel in the courtroom, to the finalization of the erasing of history. Legally, you could grow up and marry your brother. The one affirmation of your identity, this piece of paper, your birth certificate is a lie.

Grace Hilliard

Three statewide confererences in a row!

Gabriel Koshinsky and A. Keller

The Ohio chapter of FCAA recently presented at three statewide conferences in a row!

The first was for specialized foster parents (CO-OHIO), the second was designed to train the trainers of every state social worker and foster parent in Ohio (IHS), and the third was for private and public foster care agencies (OACCA).

A. Keller, who spent time in the Ohio foster care system and is currently a Rotary scholar at McGill University in Canada, flew to Ohio to assist with all three conferences. She was a strong voice in sharing knowledge about adolescent brain development and the dangers of overuse of psychotropic drugs on foster care children.

During the OACCA statewide advocacy conference, Ohio foster care alumni were able to share their insights and concerns with Representative Jim McGregor and State Senators Ray Miller and Keith Faber. Vanessa Jackson educated legislative representatives about the challenges of being a teen mother in the foster care system and the short-sightedness of not investing in opportunities to facilitate teen parents and foster care alumni in seeking higher education.

Ally member Doris Edelmann and alumni member Lisa Dickson were both awarded the Virginia Colson award, a statewide award named after a youth advocate and given to every year to someone who has made a positive difference for young people in and from the foster care and/or juvenile justice system in Ohio.

As a result of contacts made during the OACCA conference, Amanda Dunlap and Gabriel Koshinsky will be involved in the Ohio Adoption Planning Group (OAPG) and have a voice regarding an Ohio legislative bill on hold, House Bill 7, that is specifically directed towards adoption reform.

Gabriel Koshinsky has recently returned from a trip to Washington D.C. to attend the Child Welfare League of America training for a foster care peer mentoring initiative in Franklin County, Ohio. He participated in a youth panel at the OACCA statewide advocacy event, and was a strong voice for adoption reform.

Gabe and other members of the Ohio chapter will be participating in a youth forum during the statewide ODJFS Foster Care Month event on May 5th.

State of the Board Address by Adrian McLemore

Photograph of President Adrian McLemore of the Ohio statewide youth advisory board and President Kierra Williams of Montgomery County's VISION board.

The state of our board is well as can be expected for it to be for our first year of existence. We have accomplished a lot of our goals during our first year; and have laid the groundwork for future boards to follow.

We set high goals for this organization, and I have no doubt that we will achieve them. We told the United States Congress that it’s time to reform the foster care system. We told them that it’s time to start acting like our parents, and I strongly believe they got the message.

We told the Ohio Legislature that we needed health care past the age of 18. They disagreed at first, but after we testified again and stressed the importance, they passed the law – and now every child in foster care has the opportunity to have health coverage until the age of 21.

We traveled the state, spreading the message of improving the foster care system, and our voices have not gone unheard. We have attended countless conferences and sat on numerous panels, discussing the issues that concern us most. We have stood in front of agency directors and told them how child welfare policies need to be updated or changed altogether.

As you can see, we have done a lot this year, but all of our success would not be possible if not for the help of youth and adult supporters alike...

As we move forward, we must focus on what lies ahead. We have one foot in the door already, and we must step through it.

We must receive our 5013c status in the coming year, to solidify our legitimacy in the state of Ohio. We must fight for teen mothers in foster care, and for better treatment in group homes across the state. We must fight for tuition waivers so that we may further our education. We must fight for better foster parent training, and develop a statewide handbook so that the entire state is on par.

To the new board officers this year, congratulations, you have inherited a board in great shape, ready to move forward. We have established a presence in the Capitol, a presence in the agencies, and a presence in the state. On behalf of the 2007 Youth Advisory Board state officers, I wish you much success and God bless!

Outcome of YAB elections: President Adrian McLemore, of Montgomery County, is entering into his second term of office. Vice President Ebony Orr and Media Spokesperson Danny Taylor represent Cuyahoga County. Treasurer Laura Johnson, Parliamentarian James Burge and Secretary Katrina Gallimore represent Lorrain County.