Mockingbird Times
Mockingbird Times
Youth Leadership. Youth Voice.
YAD 2019: Snow? Snow Problem!
System Reform
Johnathan Hemphill
Once again a yearlong endeavor of brainstorming, problem solving, proposal drafting, summit presentations, and statewide leadership conferences by youth and young adults across the state has come to a climax, with the biggest youth advocacy event of the year — Youth Advocacy Day 2019! In Olympia, the capital of our state, the doors of the United Churches of Olympia became an entryway to conviviality and anticipation of the day’s events.
Letter from the Executive Director
Dear Friends and Allies,
For the past few years, Mockingbird youth advocates have advanced legislation to eliminate the use of jail (juvenile detention) for non-criminal offenses (status offenses, e.g., running from placement, being absent from school, or being deemed “at risk”).
No Crime, No Time
Power of One
Farid Rasuli
Rehabilitation or punishment? What is the juvenile justice system’s opinion about the young people involved in it? Many adults believe that young people are naïve and do not know enough about the world. However, the same adults believe in jailing those so called “naïve” young people for actions that most adults have done as a teenager, labeling those actions as status offenses.
Sitting Down with Secretary Hunter
Pay It Forward
Avrey Tuttle
On January 30, 2019, Network Representatives at The Mockingbird Society were pleased to meet with Ross Hunter, Secretary of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). We discussed Mockingbird’s 2019 legislative agenda, which includes topics ranging from expanding MOCKINGBIRD FAMILY™ to ending the practice of jailing youth for non-criminal behaviors. We also talked about Sec. Hunter’s ongoing commitment to transforming the child welfare system.
Too Many Barriers: Being Trans and Homeless in Seattle
YAEH
Alyssa Downing
Most people would agree that being transgender is tough. I can tell you from experience it’s even tougher when you’re homeless. According to King County’s official Point-In-Time Count last year, 3.5 percent of homeless people in the county identify as trans, nonbinary, or otherwise gender non-conforming. Unfortunately, that’s a small enough number that a lot tend to slip through the cracks.
A Mind Not Fostered
System Reform
Brianna Franco
Young people in foster care are two-and-a-half times more likely to consider suicide, and four times more likely to make suicide attempts than their peers. Up to 80% of young people in foster care have substantial health issues, compared to the 18-22% of the general population. Young people who face trauma are automatically at risk of suicide later in their lives. When I signed up for counseling in high school, I was still not prepared to face my traumas and throughout my years in counseling, not much progress was made. When it came to my “healing style”, sitting in a session where talking it out was supposed to lead me to this wholesome healing was not effective.