Youth Villages stories

Can you tell us a bit more about how the Every Child TN initiative came to be?

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives recognized the need to better care for youth and families impacted by foster care. The state agencies put together a team of foster care providers, advocates and community- and faith-based organizations to mobilize everyone across the state to better understand these families and what role they can play to support them. Out of this collective effort came Every Child TN.

What is the aim of Every Child TN?

Every Child TN has four main goals which address families’ needs before, during and after foster care.

• PRESERVATION: Supporting children at risk of entering foster care by partnering with families to provide the additional resources they may need with the goal of keeping them together.
• RECRUITMENT: Finding foster placements for children in their community, keeping kids connected to their school, friends, siblings and family. This means we need to recruit from every corner of the state, every city, every community.
• RETENTION: Helping support current foster parents, so they can stick with fostering for the long haul.
• TRANSITION: Aging out of foster care is difficult for any youth. We help older teens and young adults prepare as they make this transition into adulthood.

What is Every Child TN’s plan to address these needs?

The initiative began with an analysis to identify where the needs were greatest, determining how to focus education and recruitment efforts. While working to mobilize the communities across all 95 counties, this analysis will help to heighten their efforts on those areas with the biggest needs. To increase awareness, Every Child TN will share real stories in advertising, television and print as well as on social media. Using data, the team will consistently measure the impact of these strategies and pivot as necessary.

What is Youth Villages’ role in the initiative?

We are a partner agency, so as prospective foster parents get connected with Every Child TN, they may be referred to Youth Villages. We then facilitate the training and certification to become a foster parent, while providing ongoing support throughout the experience.

I am also on the leadership council, so Youth Villages has a seat at the table providing strategic leadership and evaluating the effectiveness of the initiative.

How is this connected to Youth Villages’ goals as an organization?

In an effort to positively impact the foster care system in Tennessee, Youth Villages has implemented our own detailed, long-term initiative to expand our foster care capacity across the state. The Every Child TN partnership serves as a valuable complement to our recruitment and retention strategies for foster parents.

What are the various ways people can support youth and families impacted by foster care?

If you have considered becoming a foster parent, we encourage you to take the next step and attend an informational meeting.

If you cannot be a foster parent, there are many other ways you can support these families.

• Connect Youth Villages with your church or employer.
• Put a sign in your yard!
• Volunteer your time to support foster parents or case workers. It could be cleaning out a closet, mowing a lawn, going grocery shopping or helping in a group home. Any task you take off their plate is time and energy they can spend on the child in their care.
• If you know someone who would make a good foster parent, make an introduction to our foster parent recruiters.

There are so many ways to give. Look around and see what you have to offer, and reach out to our team.

What is Every Child TN?

The initiative recently launched to mobilize Tennesseans to care for all children, youth and families impacted by foster care. We sat down with Jeremy Breithaupt of Youth Villages, who sits on the Every Child TN Leadership Council, to learn more.

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