We Can’t Be Silent About the Voices of Youth in Foster Care 

Every year, hundreds of thousands of young people from every background, every community, and every part of our country pass through the U.S. foster care system. Though each of their stories is different, they have one thing in common: their futures are shaped by decisions they did not make and cannot control.  

As the leader of an initiative to improve outcomes for kids in U.S. foster care — particularly young people facing added barriers because of race, identity, or circumstance — I know how easily their voices are silenced at moments that matter most.  

Now is one of those moments. 

Barriers to Basic Needs

Recent federal policy changes affecting SNAP, the federal food assistance program, and Medicaid have created new reporting requirements for young adults aging out of foster care. While intended to encourage self-sufficiency, these requirements often have the opposite effect.

Every six months, young people already navigating housing instability, limited support networks, and the transition to adulthood will have to prove they’re employed, in job training, or enrolled in school, just to maintain 3 months of access to federal assistance.

These administrative hurdles can become real barriers to meeting basic needs.  

Whatever our political views, most of us agree on one basic principle: young people leaving foster care should not face hunger or homelessness because of timing, paperwork, or lack of support.  

Data Tells the Story

Stories matter—especially now. When we stop listening to the stories of young people and families touched by foster care, we risk reducing them from human beings with hopes and dreams to numbers on a spreadsheet.  

Data is essential, but it cannot fully capture the lived realities of trauma, separation, instability, and resilience. Stories are how people connect, how understanding grows, and how policies improve.  

The data itself tells a concerning story.

• Black or African American children account for roughly one-quarter of children in foster care, compared with about 14% of the U.S. child population, according to federal child welfare data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Black children are also underrepresented in adoption rates.  According to several studies, Black children represented 23% of the foster care population but only 16% of adoptions. They face longer waiting times to reach permanency 
• LGBTQ youth are also disproportionately represented. National research from UCLA’s Williams Institute estimates that roughly 19% of youth in foster care identify as LGBTQ, far higher than in the general population. These young people face higher rates of placement instability, discrimination, and adverse outcomes. 

These are the voices society most often doesn’t hear. 

These numbers aren’t about blame. They reveal where systems are falling short. But it’s the voices and stories of young people and families that show us how to fix them.  

What Succeeds and What Doesn’t

We can start by amplifying the voices of former foster youth  so more people know about the inner workings of foster care and how it affects kids and families. 

Take Camelia, who entered foster care at age 2. She grew up in foster care and credits a caring, consistent adult mentor with helping her gain the confidence and stability to forge a positive path in life. 

Stories like Camelia’s offer insight into what actually helps young people succeed — and where systems fail. Their perspectives should inform future policies that reflect their priorities and affirm their value with real resources.

Then, we must focus more intentionally on prevention: keeping kids out of foster care by reducing bias in decision-making, addressing economic instability, and ensuring that struggling families have the support they need to safely care for their own children. 

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics,hundreds of thousands of Black women lost their jobs or exited the workforce in 2025.Given that women are typically primary caregivers — and that Black women are more likely to head single-parent households — the profound loss of income puts families with young children at risk of being separated. Keeping families together when it is safe to do so is not a partisan idea; it’s a child-centered one. Children should not be removed from their families simply because they are poor.  

Cultural Identity Has Value

Finally, we can support approaches to foster care that recognize and affirm a child’s racial and cultural identity. 

Simple, relationship-based approaches, such as sharing cultural traditions, ensuring proper haircare support, attending community events, or helping a child feel seen and understood, can have lasting impacts on a young person’s sense of belonging and well-being. When care is rooted in cultural affirmation and humanity, both our children and our communities flourish.  

When children and families are at stake, we cannot be silent. We must keep telling the stories of the children and families we serve—with courage, strength, and truth. Stories don’t disappear just because they aren’t told. Numbers help measure the impact of child welfare policies, but when we silence stories, we erase people, reducing human lives to statistics and stripping them of their voice and dignity.  

Shantay Armstrong is a Black biracial mother of two and manager of the EMBRACE Project at Kidsave. She works at the intersection of foster care, identity, and belonging to support Black, Brown, and LGBTQ+ youth as well as the families who care for them. 

The post We Can’t Be Silent About the Voices of Youth in Foster Care  appeared first on Word In Black.