It’s Complicated: Mental Health and Foster Care Artwork

Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life

Welcome to Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life, a podcast from foster youth, for foster youth, with unfiltered conversations about about puberty, relationships, sexual health, identity, and much more that we wish were part of our upbringing. When you are in foster care, there aren’t always people to answer the big questions or to make it easy to open up about sensitive stuff. That’s why we’re bringing these conversations to you. We hope these episodes spark questions and provide resources —for you,— to find answers, feel empowered, and have community. Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life is hosted by the youth advisory board of the Reproductive Health Equity Project at the National Center for Youth Law and supported through agrant to the National Center for Youth Law from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Please like and subscribe to our podcast to get future episodes. Learn more about the podcast and the Reproductive Health Equity Project at www.fosterreprohealth.org. ©National center for Youth Law

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Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life

It’s Complicated: Mental Health and Foster Care

February 12, 2024 • National Center for Youth Law • Season 2 • Episode 6

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Kat, Elyzabeth, Alexis, and Esme talk about the unique challenges (former) foster youth face when accessing the mental healthcare services they need. Esme, Community Policy Associate, Mental Health Team at National Center for Youth Law, points to key resources that you might find useful, drawn from “A Young Person’s Guide to Accessing Affordable Mental Health Care.” Guests share their stories, including the little and big ways that they take care of themselves. As always, we keep it real.

Resources:

A Young Person’s Guide to Accessing Affordable Mental Health Care: https://youthlaw.org/resources/young-persons-guide-accessing-affordable-mental-health-services-under-medi-cal

Foster Youth Bill of Rights for the State of California: https://fosteryouthhelp.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/276/2020/10/Foster-Youth-Bill-of-Rights-WIC-16001.9_ADAComplaint.pdf

Content Advisory: The stories we are sharing sometimes touch on different kinds of trauma, please take care of yourself while you listen.

Host:

Kat, Youth Advisory Board Member

Participants:

Elyzabeth, Youth Advisory Board member

Alexis, Youth Advisory Board member

Esmeralda Cortez Rosales, Community Policy Associate, Mental Health Team at National Center for Youth Law

About Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life:

Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life is a podcast from foster youth, for foster youth, with unfiltered conversations about puberty, relationships, sexual health, identity, and much more that we wish were part of our upbringing. It is hosted by the youth advisory board of the Reproductive Health Equity Project at the National Center for Youth Law.

Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life is supported through a grant to the National Center for Youth Law from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. We are very grateful for their support. Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Hilton Foundation.

Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life is produced in California. Laws, policies and programs discussed in this episode may be specific to California.

Watch our episodes at https://rhep.info/self-taught.

Learn more about the podcast and the Reproductive Health Equity Project at www.fosterreprohealth.org

Email us with questions, comments, and feedback at email@fosterreprohealth.org.