The John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, known as LINKS in North Carolina, assists current and former eligible foster care youth and young adults ages 14–21 in achieving self-sufficiency through support services, resources, and LINKS Special Funds.
From November 2022 through July 2023, the North Carolina Division of Social Services (NCDSS) hosted a series of regionally based in-person and virtual Youth and Young Adult Listening Sessions to hear specifically from young people with current or prior experience in North Carolina child welfare.
As a follow-up to those valuable sessions and to introduce information from the final report, NCDSS hosted one statewide in-person feedback session and two virtual strategic planning sessions between November 2023 through February 2024 with youth and young adults with current or prior foster care experience.
These strategic planning sessions included teens, young adults, and adult supporters. There were also stakeholders and partners that attended the planning sessions including Strong Able Youth Speaking Out (SaySo), LifeSet Program, Foster Care to Success for Educational Training Vouchers and NC Reach, Children’s Home Society’s Sexual Out of Home for Youth NC Program (SYNC), and Foster Family Alliance of NC. The cumulative feedback gathered from the listening sessions created opportunities to collaboratively prioritize methods to address theme responses and initiate beginning steps to programmatic planning and updating. Below are the common themes that were identified between the groups:
| Youth Identified Themes | Shared Identified Themes | Adult Supporter Identified Themes |
| Relationship with Social Worker Youth Voice/Input on Decision Making NC LINKS Program Foster Care 18-21 Mental Health (amended to Behavioral/Physical Health) | Sibling Contact Normalcy LGBTQ+ Youth | Lack of Affordable/Adequate Housing Lack of Placements Supporting Resource Parents Child Welfare Staff |
At the conclusion of these events, NCDSS chose to begin focusing on the following themes while incorporating training for resource parents related to normalcy and other current work:
- Sibling Placement/Contact
- Behavioral (and Physical) Health
- Lack of affordable/adequate housing
Be on the lookout for more information and updates about NCDSS work on the themes listed above. Thank you to all who participated and provided feedback in these sessions!
