What's New
Summer Interns Give Tours, Conduct Research, Hunt Runaways—All Gain Skills
Katie Hajjar
Katie Hajjar is learning new skills this summer, but she also is contributing to a cause about which she cares deeply: the environment.
Hajjar, who lives in northern Michigan, is interning for six weeks at a nonprofit called the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, devoted to the protection and enhancement of Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay and surrounding watershed through research and education.
"Nature has always been comforting for me," says Hajjar, who recently turned 18 and who had been in foster care for four years. "When I lived in Texas, I learned what it was like to live in a place where there weren't any trees and you couldn't hear any birds. I realized the connection to nature and the outdoors. And ever since, I think it is important to have it around for everyone."
Across the country, young adults participating in the Opportunity Passport™ program are working summer internships. They are gaining valuable work experience, making key connections, and learning new skills. Some are even earning extra money.
Colorado State Capitol Intern
Kayla Figueroa
In Denver, Kayla Figueroa loves her 12-week internship on the tour guide desk at the State Capitol. There, she does a little bit of everything—giving tours, handling mailings for Governor Bill Owens, delivering mail, performing clerical work for senators, and answering phones. During a recent special session on immigration reform, she worked closely with the House of Representatives.
"I've learned so much," says Figueroa, 18, who had been in foster care for nine years. "I've learned about the government and legislative process. I've learned about the history of Colorado. I've learned about managing and handling people."
Figueroa is studying criminal justice at Red Rocks Community College, and that's where she learned about the Capitol Ambassadors internship. "There are people who are changing our state every day," she says. She also was astounded to learn that there are "30 books just on one law!"
Research Interns in Maine
In Maine, six young adults are researching topics that will help the Maine Youth Opportunities Initiative and youth-in-transition around the state. The researchers are:
- Completing the 2006 environmental scan for the Maine Youth Opportunities Initiative.
- Developing a youth-friendly survey instrument about the Children and Family Services Review outcome measures. States may use this instrument as part of their statewide assessment or to prepare for the on-site review.
- Identifying what can be learned from Maine's tribal communities about permanency and community connections.
- Researching models for building community networks.
- Researching policy about sibling rights legislation.
- Developing a workshop for youth on building their own public policy initiatives.
- Conducting a literature review and analysis about educational experiences of youth who are homeless, in foster care, incarcerated, or hospitalized.
Their findings will be used in a variety of ways, such as curriculum development on effective work with siblings, grant proposals, articles for publication, proposals for national conferences, post-secondary course development, frameworks for developing and enhancing community networks, and teaching youth about affecting public policy.
The youth were trained in conducting literature reviews, writing the results of those reviews, and using library resources effectively. At the training session, the young adults discussed their projects, shared ideas, and identified ways to collaborate with one another on their focus areas.
This youth-as-researchers initiative is supported in a variety of ways. Three youth have received stipends from the Community Partnership Board. One youth has received a stipend from Bowdoin College. The two other youth were employed through the University of Southern Maine's Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service.
"This has been an extremely successful initiative that we expect to create further opportunities to engage youth in research in the future," says Maggie Vishneau, statewide project coordinator for the Maine Youth Opportunities Initiative. "The youth benefit from skill development and resume building, and the foster care system benefits from incorporating the voice, experience, and skills of youth into the work."
Alivia Moore
Alivia Moore, 19, is one of the young researchers in Maine. She is comparing the practices of Native communities and the tribal child welfare system with non-Native communities and the state child welfare system.
Moore's own experience as a Native youth in care and her interactions with non-Native youth led her to this topic. "I'm surprised at how lost a lot of the non-Native youth seem," says Moore, a rising sophomore at Bowdoin College. "Native youth in care have a greater sense of community, compared to white youth in foster care. Native youth are kept within their communities, and I think they feel more connected. I think there is a cultural component that is hard to explain and express. I am going to try to pinpoint these cultural differences." Moore currently is conducting a literature review. She then will do interviews to better understand the cultural aspect. Eventually, she will devise suggestions on practices that can be used across the state to better support non-Native youth who come into care. Still, Moore worries that the cultural component that supports Native youth could be hard to transplant to a non-Native population.
This is Moore's first internship, and she could not be happier. "I am really excited about this work," she says. "I'm glad they gave me a topic I am passionate about. In the future, I would like to do work in these communities with youth in care and who face different struggles. This is a great starting point."
One Youth with Two Internships in Nashville
In Nashville, Chey Korvandi-Geledar is juggling two internships. The 21-year-old senior at Belmont University works in the drug division of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, though she can't say much about her work there. She also works for the Department of Children's Services.
Korvandi-Geledar recently found a 17-year-old boy who had run away from his foster care home. She had his name and worked the phones to find him. One call led to another, and finally, after two weeks, she got a call from someone telling her his location. She called his case manager, and together they went to pick him up.
"We spent a lot of time talking about why he ran away—it was normal teenage things," says Korvandi-Geledar, a psychology major. "He wanted a driver's license and to find a job. I think it helped him to know that people cared about him and were actually looking for him. We talked a lot about goals and how keeping your eyes on the prize will make the foster care experience more doable."
San Diego Intern Trains Foster Parents
In San Diego, Sophia Herman, 20, is interning for a year with the San Diego Roundtable, a nonprofit that provides community resources for people who receive social services. Herman, a junior at San Diego Community College, has been training potential foster parents. Since her internship began in May, she has trained some 200 potential parents. "I tell them what it's like to be in the system and what they can do to improve the lives of foster youth," says Herman, who was in 20 different foster-care placements over 15 years. "I try to let them know things they might encounter and how to deal with it. For instance, some kids might not unpack their bags right away." She gives them dos and don'ts: Don't make up a name for a child, just because you don't like her real name. Don't throw away a child's stuffed animal. Do make sure that you give the child photos of her life with you so she has memories of her childhood. Herman learned the last one the hard way—she has no photos of her childhood.
