The Youth Engagement in Court Tool Kit Delivers Key Foster Care Resources

The Amer­i­can Bar Association’s (ABA) Cen­ter on Chil­dren and the Law, with sup­port from the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, recent­ly released the Youth Engage­ment in Court Tool Kit. This col­lec­tion of resources aims to help young peo­ple in fos­ter care pre­pare for and par­tic­i­pate in court pro­ceed­ings and help judges, attor­neys, case­work­ers and oth­er pro­fes­sion­als strength­en youth engage­ment. The goal is to help young peo­ple bet­ter under­stand and have a voice in deci­sions affect­ing their lives.

The tool kit brings togeth­er hand­outs, videos, tip sheets, self-assess­ments and exam­ples from juris­dic­tions across the coun­try. Two young lead­ers who have expe­ri­enced fos­ter care — Jim Casey Fel­lows Leslie McClain and Anas­ta­sia Neu­mann — helped curate and devel­op resources for the tool kit. Jim Casey Fel­lows work with the Foundation’s Jim Casey Youth Oppor­tu­ni­ties Ini­tia­tive^® to help shape strate­gies and rec­om­men­da­tions for improv­ing child wel­fare systems.

With a wide range of resources avail­able, know­ing where to begin can be chal­leng­ing. Sne­ha Barve, a senior attor­ney at the ABA Cen­ter on Chil­dren and the Law and tool kit con­trib­u­tor, iden­ti­fied use­ful start­ing points for young peo­ple and the pro­fes­sion­als who sup­port them.

For Young Peo­ple: Under­stand­ing Your Rights in Fos­ter Care Court

Fos­ter Youth Bills of Rights and Know Your Rights Resources (Page 4)

Sev­er­al states have enact­ed fos­ter youth bills of rights that explain what young peo­ple are enti­tled to while in fos­ter care, includ­ing in the courts. The tool kit links to a sum­ma­ry from the Nation­al Con­fer­ence of State Leg­is­la­tures that cov­ers all 50 states. These resources help young peo­ple under­stand the legal frame­work of their cas­es and feel more empow­ered to speak up for their needs.

Child Wel­fare Court Jar­gon Glossary

Child wel­fare and court set­tings come with a lot of unfa­mil­iar lan­guage. This inter­ac­tive glos­sary breaks down com­mon­ly used terms so that young peo­ple can bet­ter fol­low what is hap­pen­ing in their cas­es and in the courtroom. 

For Courts and Judges: Strength­en­ing Youth Par­tic­i­pa­tion in Court

Sam­ple Youth Engage­ment Self-Assess­ment for Fam­i­ly Court Judges (Page 7)

This adapt­able tool helps judges reflect on how they involve young peo­ple in hear­ings, includ­ing how they com­mu­ni­cate with them. Judges can use the assess­ment to help iden­ti­fy strengths and oppor­tu­ni­ties to make court pro­ceed­ings more respon­sive to young people.

HOPE Court, Broward Coun­ty, Flori­da (Page 5)

This approach uses restora­tive prac­tices to help courts more active­ly engage young peo­ple in hear­ings; it empha­sizes rela­tion­ships and account­abil­i­ty rather than pure­ly puni­tive out­comes. Courts can draw on the youth-led mod­el to shift the focus from pas­sive par­tic­i­pa­tion — where youth are large­ly unin­formed about deci­sions that affect them — to active engagement. 

For Attor­neys: Sup­port­ing Youth Voice in Court

Sam­ple Youth Engage­ment Self-Assess­ment for Attor­neys (Page 7)

This assess­ment helps attor­neys reflect on how they explain the legal process to young clients, advo­cate for their goals and wish­es, and show up for them out­side the court­room. Attor­neys can adapt the tool to accom­mo­date dif­fer­ent types of rep­re­sen­ta­tion, and it helps to rein­force the use of clear com­mu­ni­ca­tion, acces­si­ble lan­guage and sup­port­ing youth in ask­ing ques­tions and shar­ing their perspectives. 

Nor­mal­cy (Page 6)

This tool kit com­bines sev­er­al resources on help­ing young peo­ple in fos­ter care par­tic­i­pate in devel­op­men­tal­ly appro­pri­ate activ­i­ties and every­day expe­ri­ences. These include ​“Pro­mot­ing Nor­mal­cy for Chil­dren and Youth in Fos­ter Care,” from the Juve­nile Law Cen­ter, ​“How Court Over­sight Can Sup­port Nor­mal­cy and Youth Engage­ment for Youth in Fos­ter Care,” from the Casey Foun­da­tion and a list of state statutes on nor­mal­cy from the Nation­al Con­fer­ence of State Leg­is­la­tures. Togeth­er, the tool kit gives attor­neys a more holis­tic pic­ture of what nor­mal­cy looks like in prac­tice and how to advo­cate for it on behalf of their young clients. 

For Social Work­ers and Case­work­ers: Prepar­ing Young Peo­ple for Court

Sam­ple Youth Engage­ment Self-Assess­ment for Case­work­ers (Page 7)

This tool helps case­work­ers assess how they sup­port youth before a hear­ing, process the out­come and talk through case deci­sions in plain, under­stand­able terms. Case­work­ers can use this assess­ment to con­sid­er whether their day-to-day inter­ac­tions with young peo­ple are help­ing them feel pre­pared and heard and how well agency poli­cies are enabling this work. 

Penn­syl­va­nia Court Prepa­ra­tion Resources by Youth Fos­ter­ing Change (Page 3)

These resources — which include youth-devel­oped forms for court prepa­ra­tion and dis­charge — are designed for young peo­ple to use in part­ner­ship with a case­work­er or sup­port­ive adult. The court prepa­ra­tion form guides youth through what to expect at hear­ings and how to advo­cate for them­selves. The dis­charge form can help youth think through next steps and out­stand­ing needs before exit­ing fos­ter care. 

These are just a few of the resources avail­able in the Youth Engage­ment in Court Tool Kit. Explore the full, free tool kit for more resources ded­i­cat­ed to help­ing pro­fes­sion­als strength­en youth engage­ment and sup­port­ing young peo­ple’s mean­ing­ful par­tic­i­pa­tion in court. 

Learn more about why mean­ing­ful youth par­tic­i­pa­tion in court matters