At the 2025 APHSA Summit, FosterClub’s LEx Leaders, partnering with Youth Villages and APHSA, unveiled the Improving Outcomes for Youth Playbook, a powerful demonstration of how young people are leading real, system-level change in child welfare.

What Happens When Foster Youth Take the Mic?

In front of national leaders at the 2025 APHSA Human Services Summit in Philadelphia, FosterClub LEx Leaders (youth with lived experience in foster care) delivered a powerful session introducing the new Improving Outcomes for Youth Playbook.

Their message was clear: this isn’t just another report. It’s a tool designed to help professionals improve outcomes in mental health, housing, permanency, and more with youth at the center.

“You don’t read the whole dictionary to find one word,” said Brina Williams (they/them) from Michigan. “Use the Playbook the same way—go to what you need.”

What’s Inside the Playbook?

The Playbook comes from the National Collaborative for Transition Age Youth (NCTAY) and highlights:

• Best practices developed with and by youth
• Real-world strategies for systems and professionals
• Core values like trust, choice, and respect

These ideas aren’t just theory, they come from lived experience.
“We didn’t grow up with a lot of choice,” said Charissa Keebaugh (she/her) from Washington. “Letting us practice choice now helps us succeed later.”

Youth + Professionals = Real Collaboration

LEx Leaders joined child welfare leaders from Michigan and Texas to model what true partnership looks like. Together, they tackled two key questions:

How can professionals actually use the Playbook?

What changes can they start making this year?

Natalie Clark (she/her) from Utah put it simply:

“Strategies fail when they’re for youth but don’t involve us. Youth voice can’t be an afterthought—it has to lead.”

A Call to Action
Before the session ended, every attendee was challenged to take one real step by year’s end. Ideas included:

• Sharing the Playbook with colleagues
• Involving youth in service design
• Rethinking how programs are delivered

The energy in the room made one thing clear: change only happens when people act.
“If we say the system can do better—we’ve got to prove it,” one attendee said.

Be Part of the Movement
The Playbook officially launches this summer and FosterClub’s LEx Leaders are just getting started.