Preparing for 2013 Summit

Summit starts Monday, June 24 and we at Mockingbird could not be more excited. Our annual 3-day Leadership Summit, held this year at Seattle University, brings youth and alumni from across Washington together to develop the tools they need to become powerful advocates, not only for themselves but also for the next generation of child welfare reforms.

This year's Summit themes include eliminating barriers to education, housing, and the normal childhood experiences to which all children should have access to. Mockingbird Youth Network Chapters have been hard at work the past year developing and researching proposed reforms to the foster care system. On Day Two of Summit youth will have an opportunity to practice their presentations with community and political advisors in a Systems Reform Workshop. Groups will get feedback from advisors in order to put the finishing touches on their final proposal. This workshop also teaches youth how Washington's legislative and administrative systems work and how to make real changes within them. This year we have advisors with substantial legislative, legal, and advocacy experience. Their advice and feedback is invaluable for helping groups think deeper about their topics and to create substantive proposals.

On Day Three of Summit youth will present their topics to the Washington State Supreme Court Commission on Children in Foster Care in the final Report Out. This Commission is tasked with advising state decision makers on how to ensure children in foster care have safe, permanent families in which all their needs are met. It is a group of decision-makers, ranging from legislators, judges, advocates, and youth, that help ensure youth voices have meaningful impacts that lead to positive changes in the child welfare system. In past years the Commission has been very supportive of youth and alumni and interested in the concerns brought forward. We look forward to working with the Commission again and appreciate their commitment to giving youth in care a seat at the table.

Last year youth came prepared with some of the finest and most substantive proposals we have seen yet. In fact, two Summit topics, sibling visits and Extended Foster Care, resulted in new laws! Thanks, in part, to the hard work by MYN Chapter members, youth will not have visits with their siblings denied as a form of punishment and Extended Foster Care benefits will be given to youth with barriers to employment. These are important issues that make real differences in the lives of many foster youth.

The past support among Commission members, Systems Reform Advisors, community members, and advocates provides great hope for this year's Summit proposals. We are really looking forward to watching youth and alumni share their experiences, develop leadership and communication skills, and to make real differences in Washington's child welfare system. We thank our Commission members, Systems Reform Advisors, advocates and volunteers for their support of youth and alumni of foster care.

We are excited to see many of you at Summit next week and stay tuned for updates throughout the three day event!