What's New
With New Staff, National Foster Care Coalition
Set to Flourish in 2007
Robin Nixon (left), Celeste Bodner
and Roxanna Torrico
With a new staffer on board, a new strategic plan in the works and a newly-formed group of youth leaders operating in full gear, the National Foster Care Coalition is embarking on an era of growth and re-energizing.
The coalition began nearly a decade ago as an ad hoc collective of groups across the nation promoting awareness around a documentary on foster care. Today, it has evolved into an ongoing partnership of 40 organizations advocating for children and youth who are or have been in foster care. It also serves as a clearinghouse for information on foster care and aging out, supports young leaders and trains child welfare workers. At the center of the coalition's efforts is Executive Director Robin Nixon, who, until last fall, was the coalition's sole staffer.
"When you think about what the coalition has been able to accomplish over the last couple years, most people are shocked and amazed that it's only been Robin," said Maria Garin Jones, who joined the coalition as assistant director after working eight years at the Child Welfare League of America. "We have a very active and involved board, but for the most part, she's been the only full-time staff at the organization."
With Jones now on staff, the coalition is creating a new strategic plan, setting the groundwork for growth and determining its niche. The coalition also is waiting to receive nonprofit status.
The National Foster Care Coalition has an extensive history of involvement with issues on youth aging out of foster care. Coalition partners played an integral part in developing and disseminating information about the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 and the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.
This year, thanks to a grant from the Capitol One Foundation, the coalition established a network of 20 "Emerging Youth Leaders" from youth-led organizations to become more directly involved in advocacy. All of the members, who recently aged out of foster care, are for the first time organizing and implementing speakers and workshops for the National Foster Parent Association Conference in May.
"There was so much power in the youth voice in the advocacy setting that was not being tapped," Nixon said. "We wanted to empower that because young people are their own best spokespeople."
To bolster the coalition's advocacy work, Nixon also is a Distinguished Fellow through the William T. Grant Foundation. Through the two-year fellowship, Nixon is working with Mark Courtney from the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago to more effectively use research in advocacy.
The coalition also is helping train supervisors for multi-state Independent Living Programs through the National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning.
For a staff of two, the work is extensive and intensive. But it is all worthwhile for achieving the coalition's vision. "People are realizing the coalition really can be a strong and positive force for children, youth and families involved in the child welfare system," Jones said.
