Hearing the Voices of Youth Involved in the Foster Care and Juvenile Justice
Source: Mental Health California and Kaiser Permanente
Resource Type: Website or Webpage Article
Focus Population: Foster Youth, Former Foster youth, Peers, People who have experienced Trauma, People with Juvenile Justice System Involvement, People with Serious Mental Illness (SMI), Youth, Youth of Transition Age
Topics: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Aging out of Foster Care System, Behavioral Health Organizational Guidance Docs, Criminal or Juvenile Justice System, Crisis Response System, Culturally Specific Strengths and Resilience, Foster Care System, Mental Health Treatment, Peer Support, Recovery from Mental Health or Substance Use Disorders, Trauma-informed
In an effort to increase understanding of the needs of youth involved in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, Mental Health California™, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, presented a series of listening sessions across Northern California. As Kaiser Permanente prepares to bolster services to this population to mitigate the negative impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), it sought to gain greater insights, hearing directly from the youth, to serve as a guide for service providers with a vested interest in delivering trauma-informed services to individuals and communities impacted by trauma. This project aligns with Kaiser Permanente’s national focus on ACES and a prevention strategy for gun violence reduction. It further supports Kaiser’s regional strategies for mental health and community safety. The listening sessions were ideation-centric, blending traditional listening techniques with ideation, art, creativity, and safe space carve-outs for the youth for honest dialogue and self expression.