Welcome to our Youth Council Microsite!
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) is excited to feature this youth-focused section of our website, where we highlight artwork, resources, and tools created by and geared towards young people with experiences in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. If you’re a young person interested in being part of AYPF’s youth network, please sign-up using this form. We look forward to working with you!
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Art Gallery
The below gallery features artwork created by individuals in the foster care and/or juvenile-justice systems.
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Photos courtesy of Arizona Department of Education, Maryhurst, Performing Statistics, Artworks Cincinnati and Urban Artworks
Key Takeaways from 2020 Youth-Led Discussion Groups
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Youth Profiles from 2020 Youth-Led Discussion Groups
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Empowering Tools for Young People
In this section, we highlight resources for young people including advocacy tools, toolkits, and training curricula. Please browse our website for additional resources for justice-involved or youth in foster care.
For adult allies -> checkout these advocacy tools if you’re an educator or an advocate on behalf of a young person!
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- Financial Empowerment Toolkit (via Children’s Bureau)
- Strategic Sharing: Using Personal Stories for Advocacy (via North American Council on Adoptable Children)
- Caged Birds Sing: A Report by Girls on the A Unit at Waxter (via Sonia Kumar, ACLU of Maryland)
- Its Transition Time Checklist (via Foster Club)
- A Children’s Guide to Foster Care (via Compass Fostering)
- Guide for Children Under 5 (via Compass Fostering)
- Regenerations: Leadership Pipeline Toolkit (via Movement Strategy Center & Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing)
- Performing Statistics Curriculum (via Performing Statistics)
- Interactive iCivic Games (via iCivics)
Meet AYPF’s Youth Advisors
AYPF had the pleasure of working alongside two POWERFUL young leaders to co-create our first-ever youth-focused event in the Fall of 2020, Breaking Through Barriers: Elevating the Voices of Young People.
We are excited to continue to work with young people like you to develop AYPF’s Youth Council and create long-term, systemic change! If you’re a young person interested in staying up to date with AYPF’s youth-focused programming, including our upcoming Youth Council, please sign-up here, we’d love to connect with you!
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Please checkout additional resources below including past events, blogs, interviews, and more!
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