Linda Mcintosh – SAN DIEGO — Union Tribune
A group of mostly former foster kids published a book on what works in foster care and what doesn’t, as they share their stories and start a conversation on alternative ways to bring about positive outcomes.
Most of the authors, now in their 20s and 30s, have a unique insider perspective. Not only did they go through foster care, but they are also working in the foster care system to help kids in the same situation they were in.
In their 194-page book, “Life Changing Choices: The 7 Essential Choices at the Heart of Transformational Change for Foster Youth and Your Community,” the authors share their own stories as foster kids and as social workers trying to help foster kids — “the heartbreaks and the triumphs” — and their vision of what a successful foster care system should look like.
Their vision is based on the approach the authors have been using at San Diego-based nonprofit Just in Time for Foster Youth, where they all currently work. The nonprofit helps more than 2,000 youths each year in the San Diego area as they make the transition out of foster care, with the help of 500 volunteers and 150 community partners along with a staff of mostly former foster kids.
