Yeah

...

I, the intro starts with, I black out at a concert, and I just remember, like, laying on the floor of this nightclub feeling so embarrassed and so much shame.

And it brought...

It's amazing how many feelings you can feel in a split second because I feel like I felt all of the shame from all of the times I would black out when I was drinking.

And then on top of that, I felt all of the shame from being psychic and people not believing me, and thinking I'm crazy, and feeling immediately like no one would ever believe why I blacked out and what was going to happen to me, and then the, the vulnerability around not knowing why I was on the floor, what happened.

And, and just it was like everything hit me at once, and then I was flooded with this like, "Oh, I'm gonna be fine 'cause I have the tools to navigate this, and if no one believes me, that's okay.

Mm

Um, what do you want people to know about what improves outcomes for foster care youth?

Yeah.

So I think a, a big focus at John Burton Advocates for Youth and, and really why we were founded nearly 20 years ago, is that in any given year, nearly 4,000 young people age out or emancipate from the child welfare system, meaning that they become the age of majority, um, so either 18 or 21, depending on their jurisdiction, and, um, they immediately lose access to the services and supports that they depended on while they were in the system.

And we know through research that their outcomes have not been good.

Young people who leave the system are far more likely to experience homelessness and incarceration.

Um, and I was one of those young people.

And so-

... go back to their families, even if they've been in the foster system.