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Public commenters press work group on adoption tracking, youth engagement and provider capacity
Summary
During the public comment period, community members urged the work group to prioritize outreach for people adopted out of foster care, expand youth/young-adult engagement infrastructure, fund community supports (WISE/FISPERS), and address rising provider liability and workforce barriers.
Community members used the public comment period to press the Children, Youth and Behavioral Health Work Group to act on gaps they said undermine access and continuity of care.
Angela Cruz Boltz, a parent partner and founder of I Am Foster Kid, described repeated barriers for people who were adopted out of the foster system and urged the group to consider a system to track and outreach to that population. "We don't really have identifiers on how to, like, have those accessibilities addressed," she said, arguing a tracking mechanism would help connect adopted young adults with benefits and support.
Vicky Ybarra, DCYF assistant secretary for partnership, prevention and services, responded that DCYF already supports more than 14,000 families who have adopted children out of the system and offered to bring material and staff expertise to further discussion. "We support over 14,000 families who've adopted children out of our system," she said, and invited further engagement from lived-experience members and the group.
Other public commenters asked the work group to prioritize youth and young-adult engagement structures, including paying stipends and creating regionally distributed youth networks so young people with high-acuity needs — who cannot attend hours-long meetings — are still heard. Several speakers pressed for better support for community-based programs (WISE and FISPERS) and for clearer plain-language communications so families know where to go.
Providers and system partners also flagged workforce and liability pressures, warning that rising provider liability costs threaten community capacity. One attendee noted liability insurance costs have increased sharply in recent years, making it difficult for some organizations to operate in high-need services.
Work group members acknowledged the comments and asked staff to capture and bring these priorities into subgroup work and implementation planning. Several members recommended the group use the annual report and future subgroup recommendations to elevate adoption outreach, workforce solutions and a concrete youth-engagement plan that includes compensation and technical supports for youth seats on the leadership council.
The public comment period was followed by lunch and breakout discussions that incorporated community priorities into design conversations for the leadership council and executive coordinator role.
