Register Now: Elevating Youth Engagement

On Octo­ber 20, the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion will host a webi­nar to intro­duce Ele­vat­ing Youth Engage­ment (EYE) train­ing cur­ricu­lum. The curriculum’s best prac­tices and approach­es will offer child wel­fare sys­tem lead­ers, youth-serv­ing orga­ni­za­tions, com­mu­ni­ties and young adults with fos­ter care expe­ri­ence a clear, action­able guide to build­ing authen­tic partnerships.

EYE also pro­vides the skills and con­fi­dence young adults with fos­ter care expe­ri­ence need to advo­cate for them­selves and their peers — and to become informed, empow­ered par­tic­i­pants in shap­ing poli­cies and ser­vices that affect their lives.

Reg­is­ter for the webinar

Root­ed in ado­les­cent brain sci­ence, EYE was devel­oped and test­ed by the Foundation’s Jim Casey Youth Oppor­tu­ni­ties Ini­tia­tive^® and part­ner Cetera. The cur­ricu­lum was code­vel­oped by young lead­ers, includ­ing Jim Casey Fel­lows who play a key role in devel­op­ing the Jim Casey Initiative’s strate­gies for improv­ing child wel­fare systems.

Learn more about the Jim Casey Youth Oppor­tu­ni­ties Initiative

The EYE train­ing cur­ricu­lum will be avail­able — for free — on the Foundation’s web­site in Octo­ber. Eight inter­ac­tive ses­sions offer strate­gies and tools for mean­ing­ful youth engage­ment and lead­er­ship with­in sys­tems and com­mu­ni­ties. They address:

• strength­en­ing youth-adult part­ner­ships through a coach­ing approach and shared decision-making;
• sup­port­ing young lead­ers’ well­ness, self-care and know-how as they advo­cate for sys­tem improvements;
• apply­ing ado­les­cent brain devel­op­ment sci­ence to help adults under­stand how fos­ter care affects young peo­ple and why lead­er­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties are cru­cial; and
• devel­op­ing a youth engage­ment action plan tai­lored to a com­mu­ni­ty or organization’s needs.

Dur­ing the webi­nar, pre­sen­ters will cover:

• an overview of EYE­’s three tracks for adults, young lead­ers and com­bined youth-adult audiences;
• the process of devel­op­ing the cur­ricu­lum con­tent in col­lab­o­ra­tion with young lead­ers who have been in fos­ter care;
• exam­ples of how Jim Casey Ini­tia­tive site part­ners use the approach­es cov­ered in EYE; and
• what’s includ­ed in the cur­ricu­lum mate­ri­als to help facil­i­ta­tors effec­tive­ly deliv­er sessions.

“We know that when young peo­ple who have expe­ri­enced fos­ter care are authen­ti­cal­ly engaged as part­ners, we and our work ben­e­fits from their exper­tise and ener­gy,” said Cather­ine Lester, asso­ciate direc­tor of the Foundation’s Fam­i­ly Well-Being Strat­e­gy Group. ​“We also know that it takes prepa­ra­tion and a sup­port net­work to ensure that young peo­ple are treat­ed as equal part­ners and have the chance to thrive in their lead­er­ship roles.”

Details

Time: 3–4 p.m. ET
Date: Octo­ber 20, 2025

Pre­sen­ters:

• Alex Lohrbach, senior asso­ciate, Fam­i­ly Well-Being Strat­e­gy Group, the Annie E. Casey Foundation;
  
• Aman­da­lyn Stallings, Jim Casey Fellow;
• Jamie Ben­nett, exec­u­tive direc­tor and co-founder, Cetera;
• Antoinette Ruck­er, asso­ciate youth engage­ment con­sul­tant, Cetera;
• Sam Gar­man, senior youth engage­ment con­sul­tant, Cetera;
• Kath­leen Holt-Whyte, senior youth engage­ment con­sul­tant, Cetera; and
• Meghan Arri­go, senior youth engage­ment con­sul­tant, Cetera.

Reg­is­ter for the Ele­vat­ing Youth Engage­ment Webinar