DSW Showcase Student Presentation

Abigail Ayers

LCSW

Amplifying the Voices of Foster Youth: Shaping Child Welfare Policies through Youth Inclusion

Concentration - Administrative Leadership

Abstract

This capstone project featured three scholarly papers focused on including foster youth as stakeholders to transform child welfare policy and practice. While the child welfare system is fundamentally designed to protect youth, policy often fails to translate into effective practice, leaving youth excluded from decision-making. As a result, their voices are unheard, and their perspectives are undervalued. Foster youth are experts in their own lives and possess invaluable insights gained through lived experience, which can be utilized to transform the child welfare system and improve outcomes for all youth. The first product, a systematic literature review, focused on identifying initiatives incorporating foster youth into child welfare agency policy and planning. The review aimed to explore how child welfare policy transfers to practice implementation. Conclusions from the SLR indicate Youth Advisory Boards (YABs) as the most common initiative. The second product, a conceptual review, developed a new framework by utilizing the concept of economic marginalization to analyze the potential societal impact of involving foster youth as stakeholders in decision-making through Youth Advisory Boards. Economic concepts of supply and demand and human capital were discussed. The third product, an application paper, focused on expanding Youth Advisory Boards to create a federalized model for consistent practice implementation and youth access across states and localities.

Biography

Abigail Ayers is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) in Georgia with a passion for amplifying the voices of youth in foster care within the child welfare system. She is a Doctor of Social Work (DSW) candidate at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of West Georgia along with a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Kennesaw State University.

Abigail has worked in diverse settings, including a state child welfare agency and a private adoption agency. Currently, she serves as a school social worker and foster care point of contact at a Title I school district in north Georgia. In addition, Abigail is honored to represent District 7 of the School Social Workers Association of Georgia as the School Social Worker of the Year for the 2024-2025 school year.

Abigail also serves on the board of a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting foster youth and families. Her research focuses on incorporating foster youth as active stakeholders to shape child welfare policies and practices. Through both her clinical work and advocacy, Abigail strives to improve the well-being of foster youth and ensure their voices are heard in the systems that impact their lives.