Just in Time for Foster Youth Launches Book “Life Changing Choices: The 7 Essential Choices at the Heart of Transformational Change For Foster Youth and Your Community”

Book offers choices that can improve the outcomes for children and young adults who experience foster care

SAN DIEGO, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Just in Time for Foster Youth (JIT), a grassroots nonprofit in San Diego, serving transition age foster youth ages 18-26, has launched a new book titled “Life Changing Choices: The 7 Essential Choices at the Heart of Transformational Change For Foster Youth and Your Community.” Co-authored by JIT staff members with lived experience in foster care, the book offers seven life-altering choices that all communities must consider if they want to significantly improve the outcomes for children and young adults who experience foster care. The book is now available to purchase on Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZKFCHH6.

Despite greater awareness of persistent negative outcomes, hundreds of thousands of children in the United States are still failed by an American child welfare system that was built on a pre-Civil War foundation. Today, suffering from disconnection and a lack of essential life skills and critical resources, young people continue to exit the foster care system with dire consequences for themselves and the larger community.

“As the word has spread about JIT’s measurable and lasting impact, groups from across the country are coming to San Diego to learn about this innovative, community-based approach that empowers young people leaving foster care, not just to survive, but to thrive,” said Just in Time’s Chief Empowerment Officer (CEO) Don Wells. “With this book we share more broadly the lessons learned and ignite a national conversation with those wanting to create durable transformation.

“Life Changing Choices: The 7 Essential Choices at the Heart of Transformational Change For Foster Youth and Your Community” is less a “how to” guide to implementation and more of a  “why do” challenge to the traditional approach to child welfare by offering a new way of thinking about the critical decisions that must be made to reverse the alarming outcomes of homelessness, hopelessness, and generational cycles of dependence that persist in our cities. 

Woven throughout the book are stories of heartbreak and triumph, poignant examples of each essential Choice, and clear takeaways about why past efforts haven’t worked and what can be done in the future that will. Readers will learn about a new mental model that empowers them to bring about transformative change for children and young adults within their own communities. Just In Time for Foster Youth brings the book alive with the following book trailer: https://youtu.be/310fvCLm9p4.

JIT has devoted the last two decades to building a lasting community of support for young people impacted by foster care so they can become confident, capable, and connected adults.

THE AUTHORS:

Irving Chavez, Chief Impact Officer, JIT Alum

Diane Cox, Co-Founder, Chief Sustainability Officer

Vanessa Davis, Chief Visionary, Rise & Thrive, JIT Alum

James Hidds-Monroe, Impact & Systems Data Strategist, JIT Alum

Simone Hidds-Monroe, Chief Advocacy & Community Empowerment Officer, JIT Alum 

Nathaniel Martinez, Youth Services Managing Coordinator, JIT Alum

Caitlin Radigan, Key Partnerships Manager, JIT Alum

Don Wells, Chief Empowerment Officer

ABOUT JUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER YOUTH:

Just in Time for Foster Youth’s mission is to engage a caring community to help transition age foster youth become Confident, Capable, and Connected and achieve self-sufficiency, well-being, and life satisfaction. JIT envisions a future in which every youth leaving the foster care system has a reliable, responsive, and real community of caring adults and supportive peers waiting for them after 18. Located in San Diego, California, JIT serves 2,000+ youth each year with the help of 500+ volunteers and 150+ community partners. Over 50% of JIT Staff have lived experience in foster care. For more information, visit www.jitfosteryouth.org.

SOURCE Just in Time