Former foster youth on Los Angeles County podcast urge better housing, pay and supports for transition-age youth

Sherry Bradford, host of the Talk to Me podcast, opened a recorded conversation about systems improvement for young people involved in foster care with two guests, who described gaps in housing, inconsistent access to services and the role of supportive adults in changing trajectories.

Jonae Rivers, 31, a former foster youth and co‑founder of World 2 World Global Youth Film Festival, said she was "fortunate enough to have social workers that cared about their job and kinda really showed up for me," and credited that support with helping her access THP Plus and referrals to the Right Way Foundation after she turned 21. Rivers added that many other youth she knows did not receive that level of continuity from caseworkers.

That contrast, Rivers said, helps explain why housing remains a core problem for people leaving care: "housing is 1 of the biggest, issues when it comes to foster youth," she said, describing youth who end up homeless, couch‑surfing or returning to traumatic situations because available programs are selective.

Soraya Leonard, 22, also a former foster youth and a youth advocate, urged young people to speak up when they need help: "speak up. Nobody knows what you're going through if you don't speak up about it," Leonard said, recounting that speaking up led to a placement with a relative who provided needed stability.

Both guests urged practical changes. They recommended increased pay for social workers so front‑line staff can afford stable lives and avoid burnout; broader awareness among social workers of community resources such as the Right Way Foundation, Casa of Los Angeles and Guardian Scholars programs; and reallocation of funding to organizations led by people with lived experience. "A lot of social workers get into it with the passion of helping," Rivers said, "but then when, like, you're working at a job that you're passionate about, but then you go home and you're like, ****. I got a bill due in 2 weeks..." She added that supervisors should consider paying frontline workers more and redistributing funds away from entities that have not shown results.

Guests also discussed supports that help youth succeed: mentorship, connections to higher education and identity‑building outside system labels. Rivers described educational programs and mentors who opened doors, and Leonard credited one mentor with shaping her faith and life choices.

Panelists named specific operational problems discussed in the episode: inconsistent knowledge of rights and resources among caseworkers; admissions criteria for housing programs that often screen out youth with greater needs; and high caseloads. One guest recounted that social workers are sometimes expected to manage "50 case loads in a month," which participants linked to reduced capacity to do sustained, individualized outreach.

The episode closed with a call to action aimed at multiple audiences: to young people, "Your voice matters," Leonard said, urging them to keep speaking up; to service providers, the guests asked for patience, integrity and persistence in serving youth who need multiple attempts to engage with programs; and to funders and policymakers, they recommended paying frontline workers more, increasing resource navigation training and directing funds to community organizations and people with lived experience.

The conversation focused on lived experience and service gaps rather than specific legislative proposals or formal actions. The guests named community programs they had worked with or received referrals from but did not present a formal list of policy recommendations or introduce new statutory language during the recording.

Links to resources referenced on the episode — Right Way Foundation, Casa of Los Angeles and Guardian Scholars programs — were said to be provided with the episode materials.