Youth Indicators Project
Are you 18 - 33 with experience growing up in Ontario's child welfare system? Do work with young people 18 – 33 with experience growing up in care? Do you know any young people who would like to provide advice on what it means to be “ready” to age out of the care system?
MCCSS, the Ontario Children's Advancement Coalition (OCAC), Youth in Care Canada (YICC), and the Children's Aid Foundation of Canada (CAFC), are co-leading a project to undertake youth engagements on readiness indicators. The engagements will help MCCSS establish a new framework to determine when young people are ready to leave the care of children's aid societies and transition into the community.
This project is focused on conducting engagements with lived expert stakeholders. Readiness indicators are the ways we know we are ready to transition from care. As part of the engagement plan, OCAC and YICC will be co-leading with MCCSS 12 Brave Space Engagement (BSE) Sessions (lived expert consultations).
What is a Brave Space Engagement?
A BSE is a 90-minute moderated engagement session with youth with lived experience. These youth will get an opportunity to share their advice on readiness indicators. Interested youth will be able to select their interest in participating in one (1) of the 12 Brave Space Engagements that are planned.
What is the role of the BSE?
The role of the BSE is to hear directly from various youth with lived experience about their advice on developing readiness indicators. The BSEs will provide an opportunity for youth to answer questions like:
How will they know they are ready to leave care?
How will the allies/supports in their lives know they are ready?
What are the most important factors that determine their readiness?
This advice will contribute to the development of readiness indicators which will be summarized in a final report as advice submitted to MCCSS.
Youth who are interested to apply to participate in this process will be able to self select their choice of BSE and will need to complete a short expression of interest form.
Timeline for Recruitment:
June 10, 2021 – June 23, 2021: Advisory Table and Member Organizations to post materials on social media + email youth directly
5:00PM June 23, 2021: Deadline for youth to submit expression of interest.
June 24, 2021 – June 26, 2021: BSE Selection panel to shortlist and finalize youth participants for all tables
June 28, 2021: Participants notified and confirmed for their participation
July 6, 2021: First BSE to begin
