The OHIO YAB and ACTION Ohio partnered with The Ohana Project, Lucas County Children Services, Allen County Children Services and the Bridges NW Regional Coordinator to plan and facilitate a Northwest Ohio Youth Leadership Retreat for current and former foster youth (ages 14-24).

We deeply appreciate The Ohana Project’s support with fundraising (food, door prizes) and event volunteers.

Date: Saturday, March 30, 2024
Time: 10 am – 3 pm
Location: Brookwood Park, 5604 Swan Creek Drive, Toledo, Ohio 43614

Registration was free, but required.

We invited youth and young adult participants from the following counties:

• Allen and Lucas (both current Youth Advisory Board members and teens who are not yet involved in their local YAB)
• NW Ohio counties that don’t current have a YAB, such as: Defiance, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Van Wert, Williams and Wood
• All 20 Ohio counties in Northwest Ohio are welcome

Schedule:

• 9:00 am – Facilitators arrive to set-up
• 10:00 am – Participant arrival: Working on Shirts
• 10:30 am – History of the Foster Care Youth and Alumni Movement (after introductory skit)
• 11:00 am – Strategic Sharing activity with laminated traffic lights
• 11:30 am – Value of Youth Advisory Boards
• Noon – Lunch and opportunity to work on their Youth Advocate Profile
• 1:00 pm – Participants reconvene: Icebreaker Balls to recap what they learned during the morning
• 1:30 pm – Leadership Styles activity
• 2:00 pm – Conflict Resolution Skills activity
• 2:30 pm – Participants reconvened to debrief about the day, their experiences and what they learned
• 3:00 pm – Departure

Participants will learn about:

• The national and international foster care youth and alumni movement
• Steps to authentic youth engagement
• Strategic sharing
• How to identify and build upon their leadership style
• Benefits of youth advisory boards to youth, professionals and organizations
• Tips on how to create a local Youth Advisory Board
• Opportunities to share their voices and insights on a statewide level