C2Y: Discussions on Child and Youth Care

On this episode, we talk with Joey who is the lead of digital media for Pride Toronto. Joey talks about how he feels society more accepting towards the LGBTQ+ community however, there are some challenges.  

In this interview: Star, who wrote the zine series “Confessions of a Teenage Transexual Whore” talks about their time doing sex work and making art. They also discuss reasons people do sex work, how to support people who are engaged in such work, and what harm reduction might look like in those contexts. Star, who also uses the name Markus, is a visual artist, writer, student, educator, trans, videographer, and activist. They are currently doing an undergraduate degree in sociology and actively making art. You can find much of their work at starkisscreations.com

On this episode of Your Right to Speak, Sammy and Josh talk with Sho and Aki about the use of social media, communications and elevating the voice of young people and social justice movements. There is discussion about how social media and communications should be used together, and how social media has become a new way for young people to express their views. 

If you are a child/youth that would like to be on the show or if you have an idea of what you think we should talk about please email Sammy and Josh at yourrighttospeak@gmail.com 

On this episode of Your Right to Speak, Chelsea, from the Ontario Provincial Advocates Office, talks about a new report called Searching for Home. Taking into consideration the voices of young people, the report looks at barriers within the child welfare system. Chelsea discusses why “family” is not defined in the report, the lack of young people’s voice in developing “Plans of Care”, and how adultism impacts young people. 

Searching For Home Report: http://provincialadvocate.on.ca/documents/en/ResidentialCareReport_En.pdf 

If you are a child/youth that would like to be on the show or if you have an idea of what you think we should talk about please email Sammy and Josh at yourrighttospeak@gmail.com  

On this episode of Your Right to Speak Sammy introduce Josh, the new co-host for the show. Sammy and Josh talk with Jenn about stigma faced by people who are members of the mental health community. Jenn discusses the negative impact young people often experience when they disclose that they have mental health issues. She stresses the importance for people working within the mental community to have strong active listening skill and for workers to see the positive side of people who live with mental health challenges.

If you are a child/youth that would like to be on the show or if you have an idea of what you think we should talk about please email Sammy and Josh at yourrighttospeak@gmail.com

This podcast returns listeners to the voices of young people who have direct experience in the youth social service system. Julian is a young man who went into Children’s Aid during his adolescence. His time in care coincided with his coming out process. Julian speaks about the support, and lack thereof, he received from those around him. He offers suggestions on how to help young people coming out and makes several recommendation for ways to improve the system for young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) children and youth in care.

Julian is a former trainer with Connect to Youth a program that delivers workshops to service providers. All the trainers are young people with direct experience in the youth social service system. Julian was instrumental in developing our workshops for supporting LGBTQ youth in care, which we continue to deliver at Children’s Aid Societies.

July is “C2Ypodcast video month”. Each July C2Ypodcast.org will post several videos related to child and youth care. This month’s theme is Care of The State. Here are the links:

David’s Story: Home supervision, My life, My education and Me.

A lecture by John Paul Fitzpatrick about his doctorial research of children with state involvement who remain in the home.

http://www.celcis.org/resources/entry/davids_story_home_supervision_my_life_my_education_and_me 

Lemn Sissay

Lemn Sissay is a poet based in the UK. He went into care right after birth, during the 60’s. The links are to his website, there you can find a TED Talk video, a couple videos about his story and a radio drama called “Child of the State”.

http://lemnsissay.com/broadcast-2/video/

http://lemnsissay.com/broadcast-2/radio/  In particular check out Child of the State 

Guardian scholars

This is a video from the New York Times about a USA program for people in care entering the post-secondary educational system.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/education/100000002524084/guardian-scholars.html

ReMoved

A short drama about a young child who goes into care. This video was developed to help train new foster parents. “Trigger alert” this video is quite sad.

http://vimeo.com/73172036 

If you know of other related videos available online, please post the links in the comments section below.

Cathy Dyer started her involvement with child welfare as an infant. During adolescence she became active in developing structures to support herself, and other youth in care. She founded The New Mentality as an adult, an organization that engages young people to influence change in the mental health system. Cathy talks about the challenges going from a youth in care to an adult working with youth. She speaks directly to those making a similar journey and has valuable insights about working alongside such people.

After her son was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, Nancy Getty was herself assessed. Nancy shares what it is like to live on the autism spectrum and to raise twins who have both been diagnosed having Aspergers Syndrome. Nancy invites us into the culture of Autism and shares insights into how she sees and navigates the world. Nancy also offers specific and concrete suggestions on how to work with children and families on the autism spectrum. A rare opportunity to hear what works and what does not from one wise person’s perspective. For more information about Nancy Getty you can visit http://www.aspergerrus.com.

A special thank you to Francis Felice for help with this episode’s production.

This podcast is a series of interviews with different young people who grew up in care in Jordan. All of the people interviewed were at a protest camp set up across from the Prime Ministers residence in Amman, the capital of Jordan. The protest was to demand changes to the way young people are taken care of by the state and to increase supports when they transition out of care. There are three separate interviews, two of them one-on-one and the middle interview with a group of young men at the protest camp. The interviewees discuss what it is like to grow up in care, why they are protesting, and what changes they would like to see in the way children and youth are cared for.

In November 2011, for the first time in the history of Canada, people currently and formally living “in care” had hearings at a provincial legislature. Organized and run by young people, the Office of the Ontario Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth held the hearings over two days at Queens Park, the location of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Wendy and Rasheeda, two of the young people involved in making the hearings happen, talk about the hearings, the report that came from the hearings, called My Real Life Book (click on link to go to website and download a copy of the report), and responses to the report.