VOICES recognizes that youth are not only recipients of social services, they are also active leaders in supporting their peers, guiding the evolving vision of program delivery at each site, conducting capacity building to enable growing numbers of social service agencies to become “youth-friendly,” and advocating to the community at large to listen and respond to youth voice. VOICES’ one-of-a-kind Youth-Engagement Model provides evidence of past experience and expertise related to developing program activities and goals. The Model focuses on empowering each youth, integrating resources and services, and working with the entire community to address the barriers that youth face as they leave systems of care.
Youth Engagement Model
VOICES’ one-of-a-kind Youth Engagement Model has proven that empowering youth to design and lead the programs meant to meet their needs results in better outcomes for older foster youth. In short, peer to peer services delivered by foster youth for foster youth:
Create a more accurate picture of the needs and vulnerabilities of foster youth.
Have higher retention rates, especially among homeless and hard-to-serve youth traditionally disconnected from services.
Remove barriers to a young person’s full participation in existing child welfare, school and community supports by offering trusting relationships and opportunities for youth to define the scope and goals of their service involvement.
Increase the capacity of partner agencies to deliver “youth-friendly” services that reflect youth’s unique needs and respect young people’s preferences for communication and engagement.
Provide more accountability from youth serving systems by amplifying youth voice
Result in better policies and systems that address long-standing and emerging issues related to foster youth.
Theory of Change
VOICES’ Theory of Change was developed by youth and identifies the strategies utilized by VOICES to make sure all youth have the opportunity to lead successful, independent lives.
