Home > Court Admin/AOC > Dependent Children's Services > Court Improvement Program > Training > Youth In Court

Youth In Court

Asking the Right Questions, Misty Stenslie, MSW (71 mins)
This session features a personal account of how abuse, foster care and rulings from the Bench affected the life of one person. Following this account, a panel of former foster youth speak and answer questions regarding their time in foster care and the effects of the decisions made on their behalf.

Asking the Right Questions - Did You Hear What I Said?, Foster Care Alumni Panel, Moderator - Jimmy Wayne (39 mins)
A Youth Panel that have aged out will give you their unique perspective on their experience in the Foster Care System.

Crossover Youth Judge, Pat Escher (45 mins)
The presentation explores the significant issues of children and families known to multiple systems – child welfare, juvenile justice, behavioral health and education. The training will be an important step in bringing together systems that have traditionally attempted to address the needs of one child/family with separate and often unrelated efforts.

The Impact of Volunteers on the Court, Lori Dennison, FCRB, Deidre Calcoate, CASA, Ben Norris, Esq., Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation (40 mins)
Participants will learn the role of the Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA); an advocacy and relationship-based approach to serving dependent children. The role of Foster Care Review Board (FCRB) Volunteers who review cases of dependent children in out of home care. The Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation services provided to child in foster care.

Independent Living Program, Barbara Guillen, MSW (55 mins)
In this presentation we will address the various options available for Foster youth who will transition to adulthood. Barbara will provide guidelines for the program and new updates.

LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care, M. Currey Cook, Esq. (90 mins)
While LGBTQ youth in care share vulnerabilities and needs similar to those of other children in child welfare and other out-of-home care settings, they are over-represented in care due, in large part, to rejection and abuse from families of origin. Once in care, LGBTQ youth have higher rates of victimization, psychiatric hospitalization, placement in congregate care and juvenile justice involvement. These challenges can often be compounded by stigma and prejudice in school settings and the community. In this session, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the needs of LGBTQ youth, review legal obligations and professional standards guiding their care, and discuss ways to ensure the system, including judges and court staff, can help strengthen services and improve safety, permanency and well-being outcomes for this population.

Meet Me Halfway - A Walk Out of Homelessness and Despair, Jimmy Wayne, Entertainer & Former Foster Child (50 mins)
Jimmy Wayne grew up in Kings Mountain, NC. By the time he was 14 he had been in and out of the foster care system and attended 12 different schools in two years. His mother was in prison, and he had only his older sister, Patricia. It was not an easy life for a bright and gifted child. When he was 15 years old, he found himself in juvenile detention for running away from a group home. At 16, he was still surviving by his wits, and living on the streets, until one fateful day when he met Bea and Russell Costner. The older couple (they were in their 70’s when they met Jimmy) gave him a home, the ability to complete his education, encouragement and most of all, stability and love. “If the Costners hadn’t stepped up and given me a home, I would not have survived,” Wayne says. “Every good thing that has happened for me, I owe to them taking a chance on a pissed off, long haired, tattooed kid. The day I rode my bike by their place, and stopped and asked if they had any work I could do was a turning point in my life.”

Youth Panel, 2018 (36 mins)
Youth Panel, 2011 (60 mins)
A Youth Panel that have aged out will give you their unique perspective on their experience in the Foster Care System. They want to work with you to help other foster kids to overcome obstacles and make this frightening process more manageable. The Foster Care Alumni of America Youth Panel discuss the difficulties and barriers they experienced while in the foster care system.