Better Tomorrow Team, Inc.
Fremont County, Colorado

Building Awareness About the Lives of Foster Youth
The Better Tomorrow Team, Inc., is a group of current and former foster youth whose mission is to encourage community awareness about the lives and futures of foster care youth. The program grew out of two ideas that a foster youth came across while attending a conference in 2000: youth-driven boards and the crucial role of young people in decisionmaking. As a result, the youth decided to form a nonprofit corporation, with foster care youth serving on its board of directors. By using their time and energy to better the lives of other foster youth, board members are outstanding role models to youth and the community.

In the summer of 2004, there were 6 youth ranging in age from 17 to 21 on the Better Tomorrow Team Board of Directors. While the board members come from similar circumstances, each one has a different background and story. One adult, a counselor for the Chafee Foster Care Independent Living program, works with the youth.

Youth Run the Show
Youth are the backbone of the program: they run the show. They have positions such as president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. They also have jobs. Some of the jobs entail organizing activities and performing community service. Youth provide trainings to child welfare employees and foster parents and present at conferences and meetings, sharing their unique experiences in foster care. They offer recommendations and suggestions to address the concerns of foster care youth. In addition, the youth partner with their advisor and foster care certification workers in delivering special presentations at appreciation banquets for foster parents. Youth also recruit new board members.

Addressing Unmet Needs
The board has official meetings and follows parliamentary procedure in making decisions and discussing future plans. In one example of the board’s scope, caseworkers and staff suggested that the board begin to mentor younger foster care youth as they enter “the system.” This is an unmet need in many communities. Because board members have experienced the foster care system, they have an awareness that others cannot fully appreciate. The board is in a unique position to fully participate in decisionmaking as to how this important program will be structured and run.

The Better Tomorrow Team youth realized they had become leaders in Colorado when other agencies began calling them to ask for assistance and training to start youth advisory boards in other areas. Team members have made presentations in front of many groups of youth and adults and described how to organize and implement an action plan.

The biggest turning point in the board’s vision occurred when members realized that receiving recognition for their work was not as important as giving back to others and the community. “I saw that I was a leader in this program when I became a board member, because you, as a youth, help make the decisions and can participate in conferences and give back to the community,” say one board member.

Growth, Appreciation, and Collaboration
The Better Tomorrow Team, Inc., has gained members, presented at many conferences, and put on several appreciation banquets for foster parents. The board is beginning to collaborate with the Lion’s Club to enable the board to maintain fiscal and liability responsibilities. Foster youth, foster parents, siblings, and the larger community benefit from this program!

What Works
With these six necessary components, you can make a program work:
(1) Yourself
(2) Your peers
(3) Desire to do it
(4) Making progress happen
(5) Desire to help others
(6) Commitment of time

The program can be established anywhere. The Better Tomorrow Team Board of Directors promotes its model so other foster youth and communities can benefit from a similar program.

Spread the Word
The local community knows about the Better Tomorrow Team because its members participate in community service. For example: they work with Habitat for Humanity, assist at the local homeless shelter, and provide informal mentoring. The local newspaper has written about the board’s activities, and the Team has a Web page within the National Center for Foster Children and Foster Youth site (www.FYI3.com).

Funding
The Better Tomorrow Team has received limited funding from the government and private organizations to help with travel fees and to raise awareness of this unique youth-driven program.