Vol. 3, No. 2 • Spring 1999

Taking it to the Top:
SAY SO Members Go
to Washington
by Ricky M. and Erica Bailey

We were very excited when our Independent
Living (IL) social worker told us about the opportunity to attend a youth leadership conference in Washington, DC Of course, we would not want to pass up the chance to miss a few days of school and go on a small, very needed vacation. We didn�t know what we were getting into.

The conference was called Destination: Future �98 Youth Leadership Conference and was sponsored by the National Resource Center (NRC). After much pleading and begging, our IL social worker, Sherry McKinney, convinced our DSS agency to allow us to attend. So, on September 10, 1998, we began our long journey by car. When we got to the conference there were hundreds of youth from across the country there, and they were all in foster care, too. Everyone was talking and having a good time. Soon the keynote speaker walked in: Hillary Rodham Clinton.

She talked about kids in foster care and even told us that her own mother grew up in a foster care-type situation when she was a teenager! We had never heard that before and thought it was great that Hillary knew a little about foster care and what it was like.

When Mrs. Clinton was done speaking and was leaving the podium, that was when Erica decided she wanted to talk to the First Lady! Erica just went right up to Mrs. Clinton and pulled her aside (we wouldn�t suggest doing this again�the Secret Service agents weren�t very happy) and introduced herself.

Erica told Mrs. Clinton about SAYSO (Strong Able Youth Speaking Out) and how we were involved. The First Lady seemed very interested and asked Erica for her address to get more information about the group. We were impressed by Mrs. Clinton�s concern and attention for foster teens� situations. We hope that she will follow up. If she doesn�t, we�ll call her!

We soon discovered there were other reasons for attending this conference than just having fun. We were there to give our ideas on how to make the foster care system better. We all divided into teams. Erica and her team addressed the issue of sibling (or child) visitation. Ricky and his team advocated for housing and financial assistance for Independent Living teens in foster care. On the final day of the conference, we presented our thoughts to a panel of federal officials. They were going to compile the information we gave them and present a report to Mrs. Clinton about changing the foster care system. So many youth were there that we are very hopeful for a positive outcome/change for the future.

All in all this conference was a lot of fun but also a whole lot of hard work. We feel we were able to talk about what we felt was important in foster care and what needed to change. And, we were able to meet other youth who are making changes in their states.

We would recommend attending this conference to others and would love to go again next year. If it were not for our social worker, we would not have been able to go on this trip. Sherry, thank you. And, thank you to all the wonderful people who made this trip possible.

Rick M. is 17 years old and likes to play football and Playstation. He is co-chair of the SAYSO Board of Directors. Erica Bailey, 18, likes to read, write, swim, go to church, and go out with her friends. She is Secretary for the SAYSO Board of Directors.

Copyright � 2000 Jordan Institute for Families