IFCA and The Mockingbird Society

Connect Over Shared Experiences

By Mykell Dampier-Daniels

Last month The Mockingbird Society met with one of our great allies, the International Foster Care Alliance (IFCA).

IFCA is an organization intended to create opportunities for the United States and Japan to engage in discussions and activities to better the child welfare system together.

During this meeting, youth and alumni from care from both countries sat and discussed current issues that they were having and how they wanted to change the system. IFCA spoke about a barrier that they were overcoming, which was building strong rapport with people who could make change happen.

When Japan shared their topics, we noticed that youth in care in both places were having a lot of the same issues. Yoshie Hoshiko, an IFCA participant, spoke about the fact that she was in a foster placement where she was not that involved with the decision-making process that was happening between the family and the social worker. Every Mockingbird Youth Network Representative could relate to her story. A young man named S.Y. from IFCA spoke about the fact that there were not enough staff members working in the group home facility in which he was raised.

Other IFCA youth stated that there is a gap in between the time when you exit care at age 18 and when you are considered an adult. The gap is usually two years, and during this time youth who have aged out are unable to access housing or other basic resources unless they have an adult willing to sponsor them. Upon leaving care, a lot of youth in Japan are faced with homelessness because they are not legally allowed to sign for housing but they have aged out of the foster care system. It is not until they are 20 that they are allowed to access housing and other services on their own. It was very interesting for both groups to learn about the similarities and differences in their foster care systems.

The meeting with IFCA and The Mockingbird Society allowed both organizations to not only learn about the foster care system in the United States and in Japan, but it also gave both groups the opportunity to connect and establish a bond. The Mockingbird Society would like to thank IFCA for visiting us and we look forward to strengthening our connection and working toward out common goal to make the child welfare system better. To learn more about IFCA, visit: www.ifcaseattle.org/.