Session One | 1:30 – 2:45 pm
DFCS Overview and Update
This workshop will feature agency leaders providing an overview of data, current priorities for the Division, and practice highlights for children in foster care.
Mary Havick and Donjai Calhoun
KSU CARE RoadMap – How to Assess and Strengthen Campus Systems of Support for Students
In this interactive workshop, the presenters will guide participants through initial considerations for gauging campus readiness for developing a program or increasing the capacity of existing programming aimed to serve college students seeking assistance meeting basic needs including food, water, shelter, and safety. Participants will walk away with practical, personalized ideas they can implement at their institutions.
Marcy Stidum, Lauren Padgett, and Miyanna Clements-Williamson
Scholarship Academy
In this session, attendees will learn trends in student financial aid gaps and identify tools and resources to help homeless/foster care youth graduate from college with the least amount of debt.
Lauren Wright
A Journey from Removal to Reunification: Parent Perspectives – Georgia Parent Advisory Council
Explore the pivotal role of parent leadership and involvement in shaping child welfare services, particularly within the framework of the Georgia Parent Advisory Council (GA-PAC). The GA-PAC will walk you through the transformative journey from removal to reunification, emphasizing the empowerment of parents as experts and leaders within their families and communities. By fostering partnerships between parents and practitioners based on mutual respect and shared responsibility, the GA-PAC serves as a vital conduit for parental voices in decision-making processes that impact the welfare of children and families. Through advocacy, mentorship, and strategic collaboration, the GA-PAC strives to enhance outcomes for vulnerable children, reduce instances of child maltreatment, and mitigate the need for out-of-home placements.
Erin Thomas and Colleen Puckett
Session Two | 3:15 – 4:30 pm
USG Summer Program Series for Students Experiencing Foster Care
The University System of Georgia received state-appropriated funds to host a series of residential summer precollegiate programs for youth experiencing foster care in Georgia at campuses around the state in the summers of 2023 and 2024. Participants will spend multiple days on campus receiving important information on college preparation, developing leadership skills, social and emotional support resources, and discovering new opportunities. Attendees of this session will learn how to improve recruitment and enrollment in this initiative to ensure youth in Georgia can take advantage of this resource and life-changing experience.
Dawn Cooper and Tom Buchenot
Understanding the Stages of Transition of Youth Aging Out of Care
In this workshop, participants will delve into the intricacies of the transition process for youth aging out of care. This session will guide attendees through an exploration of the various stages these young individuals navigate as they transition into adulthood. Participants will gain insight into the multifaceted journey faced by youth aging out of care, including the challenges and opportunities they encounter along the way. Through interactive discussions and case studies, attendees will learn to recognize the distinct stages of transition experienced by youth leaving the foster care system.
Ebony Harris
Georgia ETV Program
This session will highlight the Education and Training Voucher (ETV) program. Opportunity for educational achievement for at‐risk youth, specifically those who have experienced foster care, can be increased by positive relationship building between students and adult supporters.
ETV funds are available to meet the postsecondary education training needs of eligible youth. In Georgia, through a contract with the Georgia Department of Family and Childrens Services, ETV funds are administered by the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia.
Jason Bedgood and Arden Bakarich
Session Three | 9:00 am – 10:15 am
Empowering Student Voices: Photovoice Reflections of Youth Experiencing Foster Care
A phenomenological study sought to investigate the perspectives of high schoolers experiencing foster care participating in a precollegiate week-long summer program. Through the use of photovoice – an action-oriented, participant-directed method of data collection – participants were asked to capture and personally narrate their experiences during the week-long program. The researchers will present the use of photovoice as a methodology as well as findings identified from participants’ voices, expressed through narrative and visual representations, expressing how they saw themselves belonging within the collegiate space. Presentation attendees will be familiar with the photos from the interactive welcoming session.
Kim Skobba and Katherine Adams
Equity Grounded Coaching
This interactive session will give attendees a taste of the Equity Grounded Coach Training offered as a partnership between Equity Grounded Coaching and Fostering Success Coaching Institute. Through individual and small group activities, we will explore the ways power dynamics play out in our coaching and think about the opportunities we have to move towards greater accountability, interdependence, and authenticity in our relationships with ourselves and those we coach.
Jamie Bennett and Sam Garman
Supporting Older Youth in Foster Care
Presenters from GARYSE and EPAC will provide information in this session about how older youth in care are supported through their experience in the foster care system. This presentation will explore available resources, educational supports, and appropriate contacts within DFCS to assist youth and their support systems as they navigate the transition to adulthood.
Jershaun Roberts, Amanda Foster, and Robin Brooks
Session Four | 10:30 am – 11:45
Empowering Youth Choice through Direct Cash Transfers
In this session, participants will hear from PSY, who is leading the way for the national movement to place power and resources in the hands of young people. Learn about the origins of Direct Cash Transfers (DCTs) and Direct Cash Transfers as Prevention (DCT-P) as real solutions for ending youth homelessness, as well as how to implement youth-led program design and how to meaningfully center youth leadership. This session will also cover the launch of the DCT-P pilot effort in Atlanta.
Anjala Huff
Georgia ETV – What have we learned?
ETV is administered by the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia in partnership with the Georgia RYSE/Chafee (RYSE) program of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. The primary goal of the Georgia ETV collaboration is for the Fanning Institute to process payments on behalf of students in a timely and expeditious manner. A secondary goal is the timely collection of longitudinal data to understand where opportunities exist to improve the likelihood that young people who have experienced foster care may persist in their education. The Georgia ETV evaluation team strives each year to deliver meaningful and reliable data to inform program decision-making for students. These results and findings utilize qualitative and quantitative data compiled for eight fiscal years of annual reports (2016-2023) to report student-based outcomes: increased awareness of ETV, application completion, maintaining eligibility, and providing feedback on their experiences. This session will share what we have learned and explore what’s next.
Grace Adams, Renni Turpin, and Lori Tiller
Serving Students Experiencing Homelessness or Foster Care From The K-12 Perspective
In this session, participants will receive a general overview of the laws that govern and guide work with students experiencing homelessness or foster care in the K-12 system. Participants will learn information centered around how the K-12 system works to provide educational stability and academic success for this group of students.
Kelly Whitmire and Melanie Barner
MAAC – Education Leads | Youth with Lived Experience Panel
One of the famous lines we hear from children is “I can’t wait until I grow up.” As exciting as it seems, it is a whirlwind of challenges, decisions, and unknowns. These are amplified for young people who have experienced foster care. This presentation will identify various supports, resources, and testimonies of young adults who can attest to the fact that adulting is crazy but with the right tools and preparation can be manageable. This presentation will also provide updates on the legal rights of those who have and are currently experiencing foster care. Attendees will receive information that will not only support young people, but also their adult supports as they prepare them for adulting.
Sharonda Porter and Anthony Stover