The Authentic Youth Engagement in Policy Project is conducted by Child Trends in partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s Foster Youth and Opportunity Youth Initiatives and with consultation from Education Northwest. The project examines how youth are meaningfully engaged in policy processes and how that engagement influences policy outcomes, organizational change, youth development, and community outcomes. This one-year, community-engaged research project is co-designed and co-led with representatives of five grantee organizations—one young person and one adult from each organization—and funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Together, the research partners refined a framework for authentic youth engagement in policy, conducted qualitative research to document promising practices and barriers, and identified actionable insights to strengthen youth policy engagement efforts locally and nationwide.
This case study, developed by the Los Angeles Opportunity Youth Collaborative and Social Policy Research Associates, examines how systems can better support young people—especially those with experience in foster care—on their path to meaningful employment and economic mobility. Drawing from youth experiences and grounded in the Youth-Centered Design Framework, the study surfaces structural design flaws in current workforce systems and offers solutions rooted in cross-sector collaboration, responsive program design, and the strategic use of public funding. The findings underscore the importance of meeting young people with developmentally appropriate support, aligning services with their aspirations, and ensuring that the workforce system is built to work for all, not just those who can navigate it most easily. This is a call to shift mindsets, policies, and practices so that all youth have a real opportunity to thrive.
The LA OYC partnered with the Nonprofit Finance Fund to assess the true cost of delivering quality youth workforce development programs in Los Angeles. This initiative examines the financial resources needed to compensate frontline staff with living wages while effectively serving TAY and OY. Key recommendations include advocating for dedicated state funding to increase per-participant budgets and indirect rate coverage, streamlining reporting requirements, offering flexible budget adjustments, and providing up-front payments with adequate transition time for 9 providers.
In partnership with Gladeo LA, this campaign highlights former foster youth who have pursued careers in entertainment, nursing, engineering, and more. Through powerful storytelling and practical advice, they share how they got into their fields, what they’ve learned along the way, and what they’d tell current foster youth who are still exploring their path. These stories are a reminder that with support, opportunity, and perseverance, the possibilities are endless.
Knowing educational rights enables youth to advocate for themselves, access necessary resources, and ensure they receive equitable opportunities. To support this knowledge, the Office of Child Protection (OCP) is excited to share a new series created by system-impacted young people for system-impacted young people. These short videos and youth- friendly flyers cover various topics using skits and testimonials to inform young people and those who support them about their educational rights.
Education Rights Holders: Getting the Right Person Appointed
Panel of Lived Experts Discussing Education Rights Holders and Graduation Rights
School of Origin
School Stability Testimonial
Enrollment Rights: A True Story
Immediate Enrollment Rights
Graduation Options & Rights to Credits
Fostering Careers: A Roadmap to Your First Job
This interactive guide is designed to help youth navigate career exploration. Through various activities, youth are able to explore what documents and steps are needed to land their first job.
Fostering Careers: A Guide for Supportive Adults Helping Youth
This guide will offer comprehensive information and activities to engage a young adult in thinking about work and their future career. This is a companion guide to the Fostering Careers: A Roadmap to Your First Job.
Key Documents Needed: Vital Docs for Foster Youth Guide
This guide will offer comprehensive information and activities to engage a young adult in thinking about work and their future career. This is a companion guide to the Fostering Careers: A Roadmap to Your First Job.
This comprehensive guide is designed to assist foster youth and unaccompanied homeless youth to apply for financial aid. This guide begins with an explanation of the different types of financial aid available, offers helpful tips to completing the FAFSA/CADAA, describes key steps on what to do after the FAFSA/CADAA are submitted, and explains how to keep getting financial aid.
This guide is designed to equip adult supporters with the necessary information to assist California’s youth between grades 6-12 with experience in foster care to achieve their postsecondary educational and career goals.
This step-by-step guide is designed to assist California’s youth between grades 9th – 11th grades with experiences in foster care to achieve their college and career goals.
This step-by-step guide is designed to assist California’s youth in 12th grade with experiences in foster care to achieve their college and career goals.
DCFS Automated Referral System (ARS) Referral Form
This form can be completed for youth, ages 14-24, who are interested in participating in a 120-hour paid work experience program.
JBAY Education Course Materials (Grades 6-10)
This course will empower caregivers, including STRTP staff and resource families, to discuss the value of higher education with the youth in their care and provide ideas for how they can play an active role in supporting these youth to college.
JBAY Education Course Materials (Grades 11-12)
This course will help caregivers, including STRTP staff and resource families, to understand how to support the youth in their care to make a smooth transition from high school to college.
The LA OYC partnered with the Nonprofit Finance Fund to assess the true cost of delivering quality youth workforce development programs in Los Angeles. This initiative examines the financial resources needed to compensate frontline staff with living wages while effectively serving TAY and OY. Key recommendations include advocating for dedicated state funding to increase per-participant budgets and indirect rate coverage, streamlining reporting requirements, offering flexible budget adjustments, and providing up-front payments with adequate transition time for 9 providers.
The LA Story
This report shares the story of how two local coalitions with over 100 partners aligned their collective impact initiatives, resources, and skills to creaty systemic change in the Los Angeles region.
Bay Area Transition-Age Youth Workforce Initiative
The purpose of this Guide to Local Action and its frameworks is to help guide communities, and in particular Workforce Development Boards and their system partners, in expanding access to and improving the quality of workforce and career development services.
A Collaborative Approach to Change
This publication tells the story of efforts in Long Beach, California, to build a coalition of public system partners with the goal of promoting and enabling collaboration across government agencies and community-based partners to provide better outcomes for Opportunity Youth (OY)—young people who are been disconnected from work or school and experience the child-welfare, juvenile justice, and homelessness systems. It shares the Coalition’s journey and emphasizes how early activities, strategic partnerships, and trust building among agencies have set the foundation for a more integrated, collaborative approach to youth services.
Connecting youth to the opportunities and resources they need to achieve economic mobility and flourish in their personal lives.
