The past few weeks have been quite amazing. When I applied to work with CCAI I had no idea of the magnitude of what I'd be doing and the impact it would have on me. They say that law school changes the way you think forever (and it's true); you become more analytical and question everything. Well, working with CCAI has also changed the way I think. Not only do I analyze the laws and the way they are made, I've begun to analyze the way I respond to daily life compared to the way a child in foster care would. I have gotten to meet and work with the most amazing 15 youth. They are a group of 15 college students who grew up in the foster care system for many different reasons, but by no fault of their own. Not that my experience is anything remotely close to theirs, but I feel like my parents moving overseas is giving me a glimpse of what it might feel like to be a foster youth. I don't want to diminish their experience in any way but it's interesting to make some comparisons. You wonder where you will go when you don't feel well and you can't call mom or who will help you learn how to fix things when you can't call dad, or where you will spend holidays. Who's there to help when you get into a financial bind? That's why a lot of these youth end up homeless or being trafficked. The worst part about our foster care system is that all the measurable definations pertaining to the "permenancy" of foster youth have nothing to do with stability!! Who has "permenancy" without stability, and who has stability without existing and lasting relationships? No one. That's what makes my situation completely different. I still have existing and stable relationships with friends and church family, who I know will be there if I needed something.
Our foster youth interns are working with congress members and CCAI to change legsilation for their peers in the foster care system and all those who will come behind them. Tuesday we sat in a Senate Finance Committee roundtable hosted by the Congressional Caucus for Foster Youth. Our youth and others shared their stories and talked about how a piece of legislation that was written about 15 years ago effected their lives. What's amazing is that the people who wrote the legislation were present and were surprised by what it had become- totally different!
I've gotten to see how legislation moves through various parties: from the time those in the field recognize it as a problem to the time it is inacted into legislation. I'm constantly on conference calls with working professionals, stakeholder agencies, congressional staffers, and citizens who have been directly impacted by bad or outdated laws. Creating laws is all about relationships...finding the right people who can strategize in an effective manner to influence the right people. I am constantly attending meetings and networking with all kinds of people. I'm so thankful for the chance to learn all that I am learning. I'm still not sure if policy is what I want to get into, but I'm learning so much that it will prepare me for anything I hope to do later on. I'm so thankful for this opportunity!
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