In My Shoes

In My Shoes is a non-profit, peer-mentoring organization in Tuscon, Arizona that matches adults who have previously been in foster care with teenagers who are currently in the foster care system.

Partnerships
This program was established in July 2003. It represents collaboration between Tuscon foster care alumni, juvenile court, caseworkers, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Aviva Children Services and Casey.

Focus
The primary focus is on one-on-one matches between foster care youth and alumni:

- Mentees are young people currently in the foster care system, either in a group home or foster home. They must be between the ages of 16 - 17 years old.

- Mentors must be former foster children with a positive outlook on their experience. They must be at least 18 years old and have successfully demonstrated life skills for at least six months.

The match is a two-year commitment, facilitated by bi-monthly trainings and quarterly outings. The bi-monthly trainings are coordinated by Aviva Children Services.

In My Shoes staff members spend 20-40 hours each month working with mentors and mentees.They provide technical support on their website, in a format similar to FaceBook. For the quarterly trainings, they facilitate:

- Recreational activities such as baseball games and miniature golf
- Holiday activities such as Thanksgiving Dinner and Christmas Angel with white elephant gifts

Since the number of youth outnumber alumni mentors, In My Shoes supports 'waiting mentees' and youth development through youth advisory boards, clubs, socials, informal get-togethers and trainings.

Funding
In My Shoes receives grants through the Department of Behavioral Health. They contract through the Division of Economic Services. Mentoring is a billable expense through Behavioral Health, and they generally have more funding than the state.

In My Shoes maintains community partnerships in order to receive affordable bids for advertising.

Matching Process
- Youth are referred by their caseworker, which means that, at first, most of what is known about the young person is just paperwork. Youth are empowered to look over what their caseworker has written and add to it.

- Mentors come to the office in order to fill out their paperwork. This method has proven to work better in terms of ensuring follow-up on the mentor's part. The next steps are a phone interview and a screening interview.

During the first match meeting, the mentor and mentee look over their mentoring contract and decide if any changes need to be made. They have one goal per month, and the first goal is to get to know each other.

Mentors are encouraged to attend their mentee's S.A.R. (Staff Annual Review) in order to discover additional ways to support their growth and progress.

Later on in the relationship, they will have opportunities to revise the mentoring contract in response to youth needs. For example, if a young person gets involved in school activities.

Outcomes
In My Shoes administers 'satisfaction surveys' to everyone involved in the program.

Because this program was established by Christa Drake, an alumna of foster care, it is focused on basing the measurement of success on what youth want, and not other people's definitions.

Christa's concerns about measuring other outcomes are that:

- Not every foster care alumni has mastered school, home life, etc.
- Alumni of foster care offer a unique perspective and should be valued for that
- Other organizations are paid to provide Independent Living Classes
- She doesn't want to alienate her partners by competing with them

As a former foster child myself, I respect and understand Christa's concerns. However, I believe that this model could and should be replicated across the nation. And without concrete outcome measurements, that is less likely to happen.

In My Shoes: Assisting Teenagers in Foster Care

Another participant in the FCAA Summit was Christa Drake. She has been part of the alumni movement since 1999, when she was the first former foster child to participate in the Casey Family Programs' community resource council.

In My Shoes
In July 2003, Christa assisted in launching "In My Shoes," the first foster care alumni project in Arizona. This nonprofit organization was created to help foster teenagers (16 and17 years old) successfully transition to adulthood.

Youth in care are matched with foster alumni, who assist them in attaining the skills and information that they need in order to live independently. Participants are empowered to advocate and become leaders within their communities.

To find out more about "In My Shoes," please visit:
http://www.inmyshoesinc.org/

Stones in the Road
Christa Drake is very passionate about her work. From talking with her on a personal level, I was able to ascertain that she has faced concerns and obstacles along the way...

Some of these challenges have included:
-Liability for foster youth behavior when she is transporting them from one location to another. Teenagers in general are prone to risktaking behavior, and foster teens no less so. Christa is very conscientious about this, since one error in judgement could jeopardize the program.

-Feeling that her presence as a foster alumni is desired at meetings, but that her voice is not always welcome.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the credo of foster alumni is "Nothing About Us, Without Us." Including foster alumni in discussions means more than just having them present when decisions are made.

Foster alumni are not "mascots" to represent the existence of foster children. Rather, we are insightful individuals, whose experiences and knowledge can be valuable to social workers, judges, attorneys, educators and behavioral health clinicians.

Talking with Christa affirmed some of the challenges that I have been facing in my state. When I meet with social services representatives, too often I hear the sunshine story:

-"We have no problems finding homes for foster children. Most of our children end up in kinship care."
-"Our foster teenagers are equipped with independent living skills before leaving care."
-"Our social workers are doing a wonderful job."

Yet, when I meet with actual foster parents and communicate with youth-in-care, I hear a different story:

-"My foster son has had five different social workers within the past five months. When the last social worker came to talk with us, he freaked out - because he thought this new stranger was coming to take him away."

-"Our neice was sent to a foster home out of state, rather than allowing her to be adopted by family."

-"We have over 30 teenagers in our school who are getting ready to age out of foster care, and they are unprepared - and scared."

I work at a job myself. I know what it means to "toe the party line." However, because the lives of children are at stake, I am going to have to insist upon hearing more honesty.