Website/URL: http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/summit2014/index.html
Organized By: Johanna Greeson
The primary goal of the 2014 National Summit on Youth Aging Out of Foster Care is to provide a forum for select organizations with proven track records to showcase the “promising programs/practices” they are providing, and thereby disseminate what they are doing that is working to reduce the negative outcomes older youth who age out of care often experience as they transition to adulthood. In turn, we hope to principally influence Philadelphia child welfare practice with older youth in care. The Summit will address the outcome areas of employment, higher education, housing, and assets/economics, all areas where emerging adults who have aged out of foster care often struggle. How to conduct research/evaluation in these areas so that “promising practices” can become “evidence based” will also be explored. The format of the Summit includes a program presenter for each area followed by a panel comprised of both a researcher/academic with expertise in the area and a former foster youth with experience in the area, both of whom will comment and respond to the program presentation. There will also be ample time for open discussion and Q&A with the audience. The Summit is intended for practitioners, researchers, advocates, lawmakers, students, and current and former youth in care. An array of guests are invited, including local Philadelphia foster care service providers, local leadership from the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, members of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, other government officials, all Deans/Directors of Schools of Social Work nationwide, academics/researchers who study older youth in care from across the country, representatives from foundations with interest in youth aging out of foster care, and advocacy organizations, like Foster Care Alumni of America and FosterClub. We anticipate many rich opportunities for networking and the cultivation of new thinking about this intractable problem.
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