Milestone Report Toolkit

Policy Publications
Written By Meridith Paulhus

The Celebrating an Advocacy Movement: Policy Milestones Achieved by Youth and Young Adults with Foster Care Experience toolkit and slide deck are designed to help you elevate youth-driven policy wins featured in the Journey to Success Milestone Report and continue to build momentum for ongoing advocacy at the state and local levels.

1. Key Messages and Hashtags

Key Messages:

  • Youth with lived experience are experts, not exceptions.

  • Youth-driven advocacy has driven real policy change for 25 years.

  • When young people lead, systems get stronger.

Suggested Hashtags:

  • #FosterYouthVoices

  • #JTS25Years

  • #YouthLedChange

  • #PolicyByExperience

2. Platform-Specific Content

Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn:

  • Foster youth changed policy—and made history. Celebrate 25 years of youth-driven wins with us. 📣 Link in bio.

  • #FosterYouthVoices #JTS25Years

  • From the Chafee Act to SOUL Families, foster youth have driven bold policy wins for 25 years. Their voices matter.

  • #YouthLedChange #Chafee25

  • The Journey to Success report marks 25 years of youth-driven child welfare reform. Elevate the wins. Use the findings. Act on the momentum.

3. Sample Posts by Audience

Youth Advocates:

  • We’ve made history—and we’re not done yet. Check out the JTS report on 25 years of youth-driven policy wins. #JTS25Years

Organizations:

  • Proud to stand with youth who’ve changed systems. Explore 25 milestones of progress in the JTS report. #FosterYouthVoices

Policymakers:

  • Real reform is powered by lived experience. Discover how young people shaped 25 years of child welfare policy in this new report.

4. Custom Regional Prompts

  • Add your state’s own youth-driven policy wins.

  • Tag local policymakers and legislators in your posts.

  • Share stats or stories about foster youth in your state.

5. Calls to Action

  • Host a report-sharing event to educate and inspire your network! We’ve provided a PowerPoint that overviews the report in this toolkit— customize it to meet your event needs!

  • As part of your ongoing advocacy work, present these milestones and wins to legislators representing your state or your state agency leaders. These milestones are reminders of the important role of youth voice in shaping meaningful policy.

  • Highlight milestones or advocate quotes in your testimony, letters, or campaigns. See below for a sample of the many youth advocate quotes featured throughout the report. Choose the quote that most resonates with your current advocacy work.

    • “It wasn’t until I met other native youth in care that I knew I could use my voice.”
      – Daryl Conquering Bear

    • “Only one day after graduating high school, I was kicked out of my foster home...I recall having a meeting a week later in which they asked me what I planned to do, as if I were to have all the answers at that time.”
      – Nicole Dobbins

  • Keep pushing for positive change! If you have ideas or want to ask questions about how we might amplify each other’s work, or if you’re interested in having our team present this report to your network, we want to hear from you! Join Journey to Success in our effort to reform the Chafee program to ensure youth have the tools they need to succeed in adulthood. Contact our team to start the conversation.

6. Graphics

The following social media graphics may be used at any time. Keep any eye out for additional graphics like these examples, elevating further youth-driven policy wins. When posting to Facebook or Instagram, download the pre-sized images below. Using the downloaded images will provide highest resolution.

7. Slide Deck

Consider using the Milestone Report slide deck to lead an advocacy discussion with partners in your network! Whether you’re looking back to learn the history of the movement or looking ahead to plan new advocacy strategies, the report offers key insights.

Within the toolkit, we created an easily customizable presentation highlighting the issues, allies, and milestones featured in the report.

We encourage you to save a copy and customize it to your own needs. We’ve included prompts for you to uplift the lessons from the report that most resonate with your current advocacy work.

Meridith Paulhus
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JTS Newsletter - July 2025