INSIDE OKDHS FEATURE STORY, NOVEMBER 2014 - INDEPENDENT LIVING

[MUSIC PLAYS] 

(NO AUDIO) Child Welfare Services: Excellence and Engagement
Independent Living, Set for Life

Cathy Connelly
Program Manager - Independent Living Program
Child Welfare Services

Cathy: The Independent Living Program was actually designed to work with kids who are 16 to 23 years of age that are in the custody of the Department of Human Services or one of the federally recognized tribes in the state of Oklahoma. It's largely funded with federal funding. It's focused on the youth that didn't reunify and didn't obtain permanency through guardianship or adoption. So the program focuses on preparing those youth for the time after they exit custody and when they begin their adult life.

Kris Goble
Child Welfare Speciaist - Independent Living
Foster Care Alumni

Kris: I started with Independent Living when I was 16. I continued services all the way up to 18. I signed myself back into care so I could graduate high school. I've always known that it would be beneficial to me to have DHS as a back-up support system. With that I entered college. 

Cathy: We start with assessing each youth. It's a conversation we have with the youth around where they think they are and what we think are seven of the key areas that they need to do planning on. So, we talk with them about, "As you transition out of care, what is your housing going to be?" "As you transition, what plans do you have for your health?" "How are you going to take care of your insurance?" "How are you going to take care of scheduling appointments?" We talk with them about their education. Where are they going to be in school? Do they need supports to finish high school? Do they need supports to get ready to get to college? We talk about employment, "How are you going to support yourself as you transition out?" We talk about life skills, "Have you gotten a driver's license?" "Have you learned to use a debit card or a bank account responsibly?" "Do you know about credit?" All of those things, "How do you do your laundry? How about meals?" Even though they may not have achieved permanency through guardianship or adoption or by reunifying, they still need permanent connections in their lives. Those adults that they can trust that they can talk to or share good news with. You know, "Guess what? I made an 'A' on my test!" What permanent connection are you going to call and celebrate that?

Kris: I turned 16; I went on a Cleveland County field trip. That was the first Independent Living thing that I ever did. Little-beknownst to me, I would actually meet my future boss there, which was crazy. But, I got to meet some of these alumni youth that would soon become, you know, like family to me. So that was a big step. Then, I started getting the reminders, 'hey, you're 16. We have these services available.' But, the pinnacle was the first time I attended teen conference. It's actually really funny because just this week I pulled out a binder that I had received at teen conference. At teen conference what they did was: a) you're there to have fun. That's a big thing. We're going to drag you off to a college campus because we want you to have fun. We want you to meet new people and network, but we're also going to teach you life skills. They gave us worksheets that listed out all of the categories of funds that you can utilize while you are in care: car funds, housing funds, how to get your permit, how to get driving school paid for. They laid it all out for us. They gave us a list of contacts for scholarships and how to apply for FAFSA. That's what got me started on the right track.

Also, they had a very dynamic speaker that year. I remember this because they made me write a note card, and on this note card it says, "I am a leader. I will ignore all negative influences as I try to change the world." To this day I still have it, it sits in my visor of my pick-up truck. That catapulted me into Independent Living services.

Cathy: We have workshops around all seven of those key elements. We also try to provide a teen conference annually that serves about 300 people. We have a theme. The theme is always about making plans for your future. 

Kris: When you're in care, that's the one thing you look forward to all year. It's better than summer camp because it's three days on a college campus where you're getting to meet people that are in the same situations as you are. You're bonding. You're learning new life skills, and at the end of it you get to have a dance. I mean, what beats that? We're establishing those connections. Well, luckily for me, I get to go back every year. I get to be a small group leader. This coming year we're going to have a go at emceeing. So, my job has a big wide variety of things.

Cathy: This year's conference was "superhero," and so they had a lot of activities around superheroes, identifying what those characteristics of superheroes are and what of those characteristics do they have. So, they can start building on those to get prepared to move out on their own. 

Kris: We're starting to see this age where the youth that were in care are becoming advocates, and they're stepping up, and they're starting to want to make those necessary changes that are going to better the system. 

Cathy: We have felt from the very beginning of our program that if we don't have youth involvement in the design of the program, in suggestions on how we do everything, then the program is not going to be successful. So, early on we've been focusing on positive youth development. And so, we put our money where our thoughts were, and we have two former youth that are employed half-time with us since 1999. We see it as an opportunity to have somebody around us every day, reminding us of the youth and young adult perspective.

Kris: I do facilitate panels. What that means is: I identify youth who we believe have potential to be dynamic speakers. We bring those in. It's basically like a recruit. I call them. I talk to them. I tell them who I am, and what I do and why I want them to be a part of it. We bring them in. We coach them. We train them to be those great speakers we know they can be. Then, we take them out into the community to do panels. Our audiences range from DHS caseworkers, teachers, members of local PARD boards, lawyers, judges, you name it. We really run the whole gamut. We talk to anyone, if they want us to. 

(NO AUDIO) 
1-800-397-2945
www.okil.ou.edu

Cathy: We also have a contract with OUNRC to operate our aftercare toll-free number. We've actually had that number since the late 1980s. It is a number where a former youth, from anywhere in the world can call and say, "I need guidance," or "I need help." The number is answered Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 . 

Kris: The hotline, you call and you leave a number and you'll get a phone call back. You go onto the website; it's as simple as you put your name, your contact information and a short blurb about what you need, and someone's going to contact you.

Cathy: Well, I think it's had a big impact on foster youth, and I think the problem began because when Child Welfare Services actually started, which was in this century, I don't think anybody thought about them staying in-care for a long time. I think they thought about removing children to keep them safe, but then it's taken us a long time to learn how to help families so we can return them. And until we learned how to do that, we had all these youth growing up that were depending on us. And all of a sudden, Child Welfare just went, "Oh my gosh! This three year old is now seventeen." So, I think the programs have impacted not only the state of Oklahoma, but all of the states. And I think we are going to see foster youth that are more and more successful all the time.

Kris: I'm coaching the next group of youth that will soon replace me. And then we're starting a chain reaction. They're going to start coaching the next group, and the next group, and the next group. And, you know, we're going to become those mountain movers, the shakers, or what I like to call them: the people that are making those positive changes in their community. 

Cathy: I want all workers to recognize how much their relationship with their youth impacts the youth. Sometimes they don't get to see it right away, but youth talk about it years and years later, and remember when workers gave them tips, or shared traditions. So, I want workers to know that. Sometimes the kids aren't able to say it at the time that they are there, but we see them years later when they're teenagers. They talk about the worker that did this, and so I want them to know that the things they're doing do impact the kids.

Narrator: Contact Kris Goble to request a presentation or recommend a youth for speaker training.

(NO AUDIO)
Oklahoma Foster Youth Advocates
Kris.Goble@okdhs.org