On Aug. 3 and 4, 2024, Missouri Coalition for Children hosted its first annual Youth Congress Retreat in Columbia, Missouri. Designed to build connections, the weekend featured guest speakers, life skills presentations, interactive group discussions and fun excursions. MCC asked all youth who attended to complete a survey about their experience at the retreat, the Youth Congress program in general, and the state of Missouri’s foster care system. In doing this, MCC will use their feedback to make Youth Congress and Missouri’s child welfare system stronger moving forward. 

Missouri Foster Care: What Needs to Change 

During the Talking Wall activity, MCC asked youth about the current foster care system in Missouri – what could be improved, what would help foster youth, and the experience of having siblings and family connections in foster care. Here is a summary of the group’s discussion and youth responses: 

What would you like to see happen to improve legal representation in Missouri? 

• Better lawyers that know child welfare; more people of color
• More CASA (court-appointed special advocate) workers 
• Provide better compensation to GALs (guardian ad litem) – currently only receive $50 per court appearance 
• Better communication between youth and attorney – not having contact makes youth feel alone 

What things do you wish existed in your community that would help you?

• Strong Black male mentors 
• Connecting with people who have similar lived experiences 
• More activities like the YC Retreat
• Drop-in centers in rural Missouri
• Supports customized to the youth receiving them, not one-size-fits-all 

How can the system better accommodate siblings who are separated in foster care?

• Youth currently don’t always get to see siblings regularly (one youth missed their sister’s wedding)
• Families should stay in contact to ensure no one loses touch despite the circumstances
• Utilize permanency facts
• Continue contact with siblings after adoption 
• Creation of sibling connection camps like in Kentucky, Maine, Arizona, Maryland and Florida
• Making visits normal and in regular, recreational settings such as Starbucks, amusement parks, etc. and paying for it
• No restrictions on talking to siblings 

What do you and/or other youth need that you’re not currently getting?

• Emotional support 
• Access to resources – clothing vouchers beyond reimbursement
• Specialized older youth case managers 
• More food provided at residential care
• Case managers with manageable caseloads 
• Better housing plans after leaving care
• Being included in the family fully (attending vacations)
• Case managers being present during meetings without note-taking
• Faster reimbursement for youth 
• “[I] love being helped; [I] don’t want to do it all.”
• “Being told ‘I love you.’”
• “Being able to tell someone what I need and get it.”

What would you like to see happen to improve the foster care system in Missouri?

• “I think we should be able to live without fear of being kicked out of placement.”
• Knowing the roles of everyone and what they do in the process
• More funding for driving classes/normalize driving with foster parents
• Foster mother said, “I already know you,” but she didn’t
• Youth should be able to make mistakes instead of being seen as a liability
• Being able to get a job
• Unscheduled pop-up visits to provide a realistic view of foster home
• Get rid of the foster care system
• Remove repetitive services
• Stop making foster care a full-time job for youth in foster care
• More advocates for foster youth and support with mental health and trauma
• More opportunities like the YC retreat
• Knowing what resources are available to you
• More support for Chafee
• Stream living contracts
• Better trauma-informed training for all
• Statewide availability of resources
• IDA (individual development account) programs
• Cooking classes
• Bring youth together
• Rural classes
• Transportation
• Chafee specialists should be able to make their own referrals

What is something that has helped you while being in the system?

• Prioritizing connections with goal of APPLA (another planned permanent living arrangement)
• People in similar situations, and people who know my situation but believe in me
• Trust and community
• Equal IDA programs in rural and urban environments 
• Chafee 
• Epworth, IDA
• Friends with shared experiences 

Retreat Feedback

Overall, the youth who attended the retreat felt positively about their experience. Some of their favorite parts of the retreat included the meetings, go-karting, community-building, and the retreat’s flow, which started with leadership development and ended with advocacy guidance. Below are a few quotes about the participants’ favorite parts: 

• “Seeing youth smile and have an opportunity to have fun, be a kid, and grow professionally.”
• “Watching a person who was closed off open up and develop.”
• “Getting to listen and learn new things from people who have experienced the same.”
• “My favorite part was connecting with people from different parts of the state and the relationships.”

When asked if there was anything they disliked or would change about the retreat, some common responses included increasing the length of the retreat, recruiting more attendees, and following a stricter agenda. Youth suggested the following activities to be added for next year’s retreat:

• More hands-on life skills
• More icebreakers/bonding opportunities 
• More leadership development
• Dealing with trauma and family bonds
• Youth lead or partner on a workshop
• Laser tag
• Paintballing 
• Swimming in pool 
• Oil changes 

All of the retreat attendees said the retreat met their expectations. They came into the retreat hoping to connect and build relationships with other youth, better understand Missouri’s system, mentor peers, gain inspiration, and form action items for YC to work on.