 Top Four Training Models
Cby25 The Cby25 Academy provides technical assistance and trainings for certified youth trainers. Cby25 foster care youth/alumni are empowered to train child welfare staff, helping them to develop policies, procedures and programs that meet the requirements of Florida's Independent Living Statutes. Cby25 is a national organization, with a goal of further expanding their outreach efforts. They have developed a curriculum that they believe can be adapted to any state. If the OCWTP is interested in bringing this model to Ohio, they would be happy to meet with us. Honoring Emancipated Youth Honoring Emancipated Youth was founded by the United Way of the Bay Area in 1999, with the purpose of providing a community-based, collaborative response to the challenges facing youth who "age out" of the foster care system. It subsequently evolved into an Expert Trainer Model, made up of a team of emancipated foster youth trainers who train as expert consultants. Foster care alumni between the ages of 18-24 are invited to submit applications for employment. If hired, they will to serve an eleven-month term, working directly for HEY. Foster care alumni are given their own space and office supplies, paid a living wage and invited as equals to meetings. They are provided with advocacy education, in order to learn how to organize their expertise in order to present it effectively as child welfare trainers. Documents shared by HEY include: EYAB Member Description, HEY Payment Policy, and Lessons Learned. Voices of Youth Voices of Youth was a groundbreaking program that came into existence shortly after the passing of the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act. At a time when the value of youth voice was not yet widely recognized, VOY was a pioneer program that inspired other agencies and organization to follow their example. The VOY Training Academy trained foster care youth and alumni in public speaking, including strategic sharing. Through involvement in this program, foster care youth alumni shared their insights both nationally and internationally, including conference presentations in Stockholm and Romania. Before this program closed, it was a mutiple award wining program, based in NYC and Texas, that was considered to be one of the most innovative foster care programs in the country. Although Voices of Youth is no longer in existence, we believe that we would be remiss if we did not learn from their powerful legacy. Documents shared by VOY include: Youth Involvement, Youth Decision Making, Values Statement, Advice from Youth, and Lessons Learned. VOY also shared a helpful diagram, to measure the level of youth participation and engagement:  Youth Offering Unique Tangible Help The YOUTH Training Project is staffed entirely by foster care alumni. The development team that created their entire curriculum consisted of six current and former foster youth, between the ages of 16-21. Curriculum continues to be developed as needed, by teams of 4-6 youth trainers, with assistance provided by support staff. YOUTH trainers are paid for their involvement. When new trainers are hired, they are required to attend the YOUTH Leadership Institute, where they receive intensive facilitation skills training and practice using samples of the curriculum. Prior to training, there is intensive rehearsal, and feedback is provided at the end of the day. Resources shared by YOUTH include: Summary and Project Description, Lessons Learned, Outcomes and Evaluations, and Site Visit Highlights. Youth Recruitment
California Youth Connection CYC accomplishes this through their network of: ● General supervisors for regions ● Outreach staff that work with local diverse counties (each county has its own rules) ● Adult volunteers that accompany youth; including adult volunteers who work in Social Services, and therefore have all the necessary credentials |