Questions? Anwers!
Who can participate in YLAT activities?
What should I do if I want to join or if I know someone who wants to join?
What are the benefits to young people?
What are the benefits to adults and former youth in care?
Who can participate in YLAT activities? 
- Maine Youth, ages 14-21, who are in care, in transition from care, in kinship arrangements, in reunification, or in adopted families
- Former youth in care, ages 22+
- Adults who are committed to supporting the efforts
What should I do if I want to join or if I know someone who wants to join?
- Contact Susan at the Muskie YLAT Office: 780-5845, toll-free at 1-877-792-YLAT,
or email sburnschong@usm.maine.edu - Or check out the People page and contact someone you know.
What happens in YLAT?
1. District YLAT meetings. Youth, former youth, and adult partners gather for monthly regional meetings statewide to address critical issues facing youth in care.
- Southern Maine (Saco)
- Augusta
- Lewiston
- Rockland
- Calais
- Bangor
- Houlton/Caribou
2. Panel presentations and speaking engagements. YLAT youth share the experiences being in care to train, educate, and challenge specific groups about the system.
3. Advisory groups and committee work. Young people and their adult partners are encouraged to contribute to work groups and committees that are tasked with creating or improving services to youth through policy and practice change.
4. Creative projects. Young people in YLAT are emboldened to use the arts (theater, film, and writing) to inspire change in the system.
5. Statewide events. Youth and adults are invited to design, implement, and attend statewide events.
6. Youth and adult partnership training. Youth and adults facilitate trainings to educate community partners about the ways that youth and adults can work together effectively to reach common goals.
7. Philanthropy and community service. YLAT members get to actively decide how to award $10,000 to groups, agencies, and partnerships for innovative ideas helping youth in foster care.
8. Permanency work. In 2007, the issue of youth permanency—lifelong permanent connections for youth in care—was raised by youth leaders attending the annual Youth Leadership Summit. YLAT members presented recommendations to policy makers, suggesting that a statewide summit be held where foster youth and DHHS staff could talk about permanency and delve deeper into this important issue. YLAT, Maine DHHS, and the Muskie School of Public Service collaborated to plan and implement two statewide Permanency Summits in 2008 and 2009, and regional summits in 2010.
Each of the 8 districts within the State of Maine formed Permanency Teams, comprised of youth in foster care, DHHS staff members and community members. District Permanency Teams action plans revolved around building their district team, collaboration and communication, training and education, strategies that work to achieve permanency and improving permanency outcomes for youth, particularly those who are part of the team. The teams are moving forward and continuing the permanency discussion, planning, and action as the initiative continues.
The vision for this permanency work is that every youth can have a family, and that by 2013, 50% of youth aged 15-18 will leave foster care with a permanent family connection. To realize this vision, work is focused on the following goals:
- Achieve greater permanence for youth than last year.
- Achieve greater permanence for youth who have been in care for long periods of time.
- Reduce the use of APPLA (Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement) as a permanency goal.
- Increase utilization of known permanence strategies.
Permanency Policy pdf
What are the benefits to young people?
- Connect with other youth in care and caring adults in a supportive, safe environment.
- Help to change the child welfare system.
- Make a difference in the community by speaking out and participating.
- Learn new skills in communication, advocacy, public speaking, and team work, while building confidence (and resumes).
- Get a stipend (generally $40) for expertise for speaking engagements and project work.
- Connect with additional resources, like Opportunity Passport™, Maine Youth Transition Collaborative, and the Youth in Transition fund. Download Youth in Transition fund application and guidelines pdf
- Opportunity Passport info
- MYTC information
What are the benefits to former youth and adults?
- Connect with young people in a fun, productive, creative way.
- Share your resources, skills, and experiences to support new youth leaders.
- Make an exciting difference in the community.
Who supports YLAT?
YLAT is a collaborative effort involving
- Maine’s youth,
- the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine, and
- the Department of Health and Human Services.
Other supports have included: the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative and the Maine Youth Transition Collaborative, the Andrus Family Fund, Casey Family Services.
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