To improve the lives and futures for youth in foster care by creating access to information on their benefits, protections, and legal rights!
FosterPower was created because there was no way to find information on the benefits, protections, and legal rights for kids in foster care. When kids in foster care move, they often are given little notice and many of their belongings get lost…
FosterPower was created because there was no way to find information on the benefits, protections, and legal rights for kids in foster care. When kids in foster care move, they often are given little notice and many of their belongings get lost the one thing kids usually always keep on them is a phone. Federal law says children must be given information on their rights in foster care. With FosterPower, this information is right at their fingertips.
FosterPower, formerly known as “Know Your Rights – an informational guide for teenagers in foster care” started out as a project by attorney Taylor Sartor during her last year of law school. Taylor was planning to become an attorney for kids in foster care and was…
FosterPower, formerly known as “Know Your Rights - an informational guide for teenagers in foster care” started out as a project by attorney Taylor Sartor during her last year of law school. Taylor was planning to become an attorney for kids in foster care and was serving as a Guardian ad litem volunteer for 2 teenagers. She was frustrated when trying to look up information on allowance, who was supposed to take kids to the doctor (was it the case manager or the group home? They both said it was the other’s job,) if they would qualify for extended foster care, the questions were endless –and finding the answers weren’t easy. That is when she decided she would create a guide that explains the rights of kids in foster care. She found a team of law students who agreed to help and together they spent over 300 hours compiling laws and organizing the content. Through several grants and some luck, they were able to get some copies printed. They soon realized, however, that kids would lose these paper copies. Taylor continued to hand out booklets and provide training for the content as an attorney for kids in foster care for several years. Eventually, a new funding opportunity came along. By this point, dozens more attorneys from the Greenberg Traurig LLP law firm and Stetson students continued to help Taylor update the content and add more sections. Additionally, user research and testing was conducted with the help of current and former foster youth themselves to make sure the content is what they want to learn and in a format they can understand and want to read. Suddenly, the dream of giving kids instant access to vital information on their benefits, protections, and rights became a reality.
FosterPower is a program created and managed by Bay Area Legal Services and funded by Legal Services Corporation. Special thanks to our partners, Greenberg Traurig LLP, Florida Youth Shine Members, and Stetson University College of Law.
FosterPower is a movement to improve the lives and futures of youth in foster care by creating access to information on their benefits, protections, and legal rights. FosterPower is a program created and managed by Bay Area Legal Services.
The content in this app is legal information and not legal advice. If you need legal advice on your specific situation then you should contact a lawyer.
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