Expert Voices: A Podcast Series Using Lived Experience to Explore the Multiple Systems Affecting the Lives of Young People in Foster Care

For children and youth who have experienced foster care in the United States, all too often decisions are being made by adults who have no idea what the experience is like. Decisions not only directly related to foster care but also decisions regarding other critical aspects of their lives, such as schooling and medical care, are too often made by adults who do not know what it feels like to be in these youth’s shoes. The Field Center hopes to change this by elevating the voices of those with lived experience through a podcast series in which young adults who have experienced foster care can voice their thoughts on different highlighted topics.

Although there exist several podcast series already incorporating the voices of those with lived experience, we hope to further elevate and amplify these experts using an interdisciplinary approach highlighting the different perspectives on the multiple systems affecting the lives of young people. Our podcast series aims to voice perspectives from different disciplines, by rotating between different topics regarding issues impacting the healthy development of young people impacted by the child welfare system. Each episode will feature a young adult with lived experience as our guest, with the discussion to be facilitated by the Field Center’s Lerner Fellow in Child Welfare Policy, a Field Center MSW Student, or a member of the industry related to that episode’s main topic. In this podcast series, you will hear from young adults discussing a variety of topics, which may include foster care, gun violence, education, mental health, and more.