MISSISSIPPI YOUTH VOICE
WHO WE ARE
Each member of Mississippi Youth Voice has been in foster care. We come from different areas of the state and have different backgrounds and experiences, but one common goal: breaking down barriers and building better outcomes for Mississippi foster youth. We are young leaders working together to improve outcomes for foster kids in Mississippi.
WHAT WE DO
We educate others about issues affecting foster kids, advocate for improvements to the foster care system, and build partnerships to expand opportunities for young people who have been in care.
Key issues we work on:
- Strengthening relationships among youth, social workers, foster families, parents and siblings
- Ensuring that youth in care know their rights
- Expanding opportunities for youth to develop life skills and gain independence
- Improving access to healthcare, counseling and mental health services
- Ensuring youth in care get to have the kinds of normal teenage experiences that can help them develop critical life skills
- Increasing opportunities for youth to learn to achieve educational and employment goals to ensure they are successful as adults
Know a young person who was in foster care who would make a great Mississippi Youth Voice member? Contact Samantha Kalahar at [email protected]
SHARE YOUR VOICE
Build a better future for foster youth.
Change Policies
- Lending your voice to the way policies and programs affecting youth in foster care are developed helps to make programs that are better designed to help youth succeed.
Connect Resources
- By speaking out about the needs and gaps for foster youth, you can help us to identify current and build new resources for foster youth as they move toward independence. build relationships
Build Relationships
- Sharing your experiences in the foster care system can help policymakers, agency leadership, social workers, foster parents, judges, and others better support foster youth.
CURRENT MEMBERS
- Check here for current Mississippi Youth Voice members
SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS & EVENTS
PATHWAYS TO INDEPENDENCE
Policy recommendations based on lived experience within the Mississippi foster care system
POLICY UPDATES