Participants on Los Angeles County podcast say arts aid healing for system‑involved youth but outreach remains uneven

On a Los Angeles County podcast episode of Talk to Me, participants discussed how arts programs — from makeup and dance to poetry and beat‑making — support healing, mental health and career pathways for youth affected by the foster care and juvenile justice systems.

Host Sherry Bradford opened the discussion and invited panelists to describe how art had helped them. Arlena Ortega, a podcast guest who said she ran a makeup class in a group home, said makeup and hairstyling “was like meditating for all of us.” Chris, introduced as a youth commissioner in Portland County, argued that arts teach both creativity and discipline, quoting John F. Kennedy: “art is not freedom from discipline, but disciplined freedom.” Elizabeth Nails, who works for the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, described programs that bring healing‑centered arts into juvenile justice settings, foster homes and family agency placements.

The nut of the conversation: panelists said arts engagement can give system‑involved young people agency, community connection and practical pathways to paid work, but many youth do not know programs exist. Nails said the county’s Creative Well‑Being approach centers arts as a strategy for mental‑health promotion and youth development and is funding artists to bring programs into short‑term residential therapeutic programs (STRTPs), foster family agencies (FFAs) and juvenile halls. She also said the department is releasing searchable resources and a creative career pathways search tool to help young people and adults find programs and paid opportunities.

Panelists described three recurring barriers: awareness, transportation and adult referral systems. Ortega said she did not learn about some programs until after she aged out of eligibility: “I didn’t know about kids in the spotlight till I was probably, like, 23. And by that time, it was, like, I was over the age limit.” A participant identified Step In Forward LA as a resource that has connected former foster youth to arts opportunities, but speakers said many young people lack that connection if they do not already have a social worker or community link.

Speakers proposed practical steps to expand reach. Nails and others urged more youth‑led projects, training for adults who support young people so they can make referrals, and simple creative practices embedded in social‑service and mental‑health settings. Chris said funders must plan for implementation as well as dollars: “you’re funding the arts now, but how are we going to ensure that the right teachers…people who have the expertise to teach the arts, are placed into classrooms.”

Panelists said many county programs are free or offer paid opportunities but cautioned that funding is often vulnerable when budgets tighten. The podcast will include resource links in the episode notes, Nails said.

The discussion did not include any formal county votes or policy adoptions; participants focused on program development, outreach and lived experience. The conversation underscored that while arts are used as a healing and workforce tool in Los Angeles County, expanding awareness and referral systems will be necessary to connect more system‑involved youth to programs.